Boss Level Parent Guide

If you could relive the past, would you? Former special forces Captain Roy Pulver (Frank Grillo) has no choice. Every day is exactly the same, from the pretty blonde (Annabelle Wallis) in his bed to the deranged assassin who wakes him up with a near-lethal machete attack. Despite the initial inconvenience, Roy has learned how to work his way around the first assassin…and the attack helicopter…and the psychotic and heavily armed women in a minivan. But so far, Roy hasn’t managed to survive past 12:47PM, at which point all of the various assassins he’s encountered catch up with him. For a while now, Roy has spent his last hour alive drinking heavily at Chef Jake’s (Ken Jeong) diner… but he’s beginning to suspect that he can last longer. In order to escape his terminal time loop, Roy’s going to have to confront the scariest thing of all: his ex-wife Jemma (Naomi Watts), who’s been working on a highly scientific and top secret project for the mysterious Colonel Ventor (Mel Gibson).

I’ll be the first to admit that this movie isn’t about to win any screenwriting awards. At best, it’s a little paint-by-numbers; at worst, it’s outright bad. Mercifully, the dialogue is almost completely beside the point. The intended audience for this film is not one that is going to be held up by an absence of eloquence. Were it not for the extensive profanity and graphic violence, I’d say this is perfect for a 13-year old boy – which, depending on the intent of the filmmakers, is either a huge compliment or a cutting insult. I have a hunch that it’s the former.

I know you’re wondering what the point of the movie is in the absence of believable characters. Thankfully, I’m equipped to answer that question. The point is the endlessly creative violence. I’ve seen a lot of violence on screen, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody harpooned at an outdoor café and dragged around the streets behind a truck. Boss Level manages that twice. Hopefully that gives you some indication of both the style of filmmaking and bleak sense of humor at play here. The over-the-top violence is essentially the only source of entertainment here, and if that isn’t your style, then this is going to be a very unpleasant 90 minutes for you.

Unfortunately, this production is a little too grotesque for its target audience – or at least, for their parents. I don’t know too many parents who would want to show this to anyone under the age of 30, let alone anyone still attending middle school. It’s 90 minutes of non-stop swearing and bloody violence, and while the blue air and bloody fights eat up the runtime before the movie can get into too much trouble in the other content categories, that’s hardly a glowing endorsement.