That's when the trouble starts for Ravn, for he doesn't count on the actor, Kristoffer, being a bit too naïve and eager to exercise his acting skills. Even though Kristoffer botches the first negotiation with his confused and nervous interpretation of his role, he goes on to introduce himself to the employees. That creates a problem for Ravn, as the employees had never seen the fictitious boss. He decides to roll with it anyway. He allows Kristoffer to stay around the office as the boss, or "Svend E." as he was known through email.
I introduce this as a comedy since it is billed as one, but I was honestly struggling to find a laugh throughout the movie. Every time there is a comedic moment, it's drawn out way too long and whatever was funny is long dead by the time the scene is over. It's very dry humor - way too dry for my taste. As one character in the movie said, "Why do Danes talk so much?" That scene, and the others with the Icelanders, were the only funny points in the movie for me, perhaps because they were making fun of the nature of the rest of the movie.
Though The Boss of It All fails as a comedy for me, it is an interesting story. The fake boss Kristoffer gradually gets to know his real employees through the course of the movie. He awkwardly pieces together what sort of boss he is supposed to be based on what the employees tell him. Since you're piecing it together along with him, it's a bit of a guessing game for the audience as well. It's not really laugh-out-loud hilarious or fast-paced, but it is a pretty good story.
I was particularly frustrated by the one-dimensional nature of the employees. The fake boss shouldn't have lasted as long as he did acting the way he did. They seemed to blindly play into both Ravn and Kristoffer's hands way too easily. The guessing game loses a bit of its fun when Kristoffer never gets busted. The only one who "figures it out" is Mette, a fragile woman who is frightened by everything in the world. The fact that she turns around and claims she knew it was all a ruse just doesn't make up for her being a shallow character during the first 3 quarters of the movie. I guess this could have been forgiven if it made for a good comedy. Perhaps it just doesn't translate well.
One thing that you'll notice when you watch The Boss of It All is the odd framing and sound issues. I felt like I was watching something unfinished. It turns out this technique was intentional - something the director calls Automavision. Director Lars Von Trier claims that he didn't understand the need for framing, so he developed a system that uses a computer to randomly help you create scenes. I'm sure someone will pull some deeper meaning from this technique, but for me it did nothing but create an awkward feeling. It just made me think "what's going on with this shot" or "why did the sound just change" when I was just trying to pay attention to the story.
The Boss of It All isn't something I'd recommend to people who liked Office Space or the like. It seems to drag on a lot longer than its 96 minute running time. The extras are decent, with a couple of mockumentaries and featurettes. The mockumentaries are just extra interviews done in the same style as the movie. The featurettes are more serious behind-the-scenes extras. It's a good deal, assuming you liked the movie. Aside from a few relieving moments of fun in the movie, I don't see a reason to watch it again.
