20 Horrible Movie Bosses

The Departed (2006)

The Boss: Staff Sergeant Sean Dignam (Mark Wahlberg)

The Horribleness: Straight talking, foul mouthed and not to be on the wrong side of… “I'm the guy who does his job. You must be the other guy”

Get In Their Good Books: Avoid being “the other guy” and don’t be all new guy-ish.

The Incredibles (2004)

The Boss: Gilbert Huph (Wallace Shawn)

The Horribleness: The Napoleon Complex personified in cartoon form and put in charge of an insurance firm. Anyone with any sympathy for those being ripped off by an insurance firm would wish to use their incredible superhuman strength to throw this high-heeled short-arse through a series of walls.

Get In Their Good Books: Don’t point out loop-holes to the clients, even if they’re sweet little old ladies.

The Proposal (2009)

The Boss: Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock)

The Horribleness: Cold and pushy and used to getting what she wants, she might just ask extremely intimate and personal favours from you.

Get In Their Good Books: If she’s attracted to you and it’s what she wants then you probably should marry her.

Nine To Five (1980)

The Boss: Franklin M Hart Jr (Dabney Coleman)

The Horribleness: Sleazy manipulative chauvinist who is endlessly trying to seduce his happily married secretary.

Get In Their Good Books: Fantasies about poisoning his coffee are strictly forbidden, as is the act of kidnapping and holding him hostage.

Working Girl (1988)

The Boss: Katharine Parker (Sigourney Weaver)

The Horribleness: This shrewd operator will drain you of your sympathy and your brilliant ideas and pass them off as her own. Using broken bones to aid you getting ahead is pretty smart, but it won't earn you any friends.

Get In Their Good Books: Share all your best ideas, allow them to be stolen and nurse her back to full fitness when appropriate.

Disclosure (1994)

The Boss: Meredith Johnson (Demi Moore)

The Horribleness: With a deftly astute knowledge of the sexual harassment laws she will destroy your career, your life and shatter your preconceptions.

Get In Their Good Books: There’s not a lot you can do if you’re an ex-lover.

Water For Elephants (2011)

The Boss: August (Christoph Waltz)

The Horribleness: Do wrong? He’ll throw you off a train. Go after his woman? He’ll want you dead.Be an animal? He’ll be very cruel and mean to you.

Get In Their Good Books: Don’t be an animal, and if you have to be, be very obedient and good at circus tricks.

Scrooged (1988)

The Boss: Francis "Frank" Xavier Cross (Bill Murray)

The Horribleness: Conceited, cynical television programming executive who becomes even more cold-hearted and cruel before he’s redeemed in the end (How Dickensian!)

Get In Their Good Books: Make people believe it’s a matter of life or death to tune into his shows. If you’re not a ghost possessing powers of time travel, that is.

Secretary (2002)

The Boss: E Edward Grey (James Spader)

The Horribleness: Spank happy (in more ways than one) devious sexual predator in a darkly quirky independent movie sort of way. He'll have you crawling on the floor, hoisting up your skirt and getting more stains out in your laundry than you'd care to imagine.

Get In Their Good Books: Wear something nice for work.

The Office (2001-2011)

The Boss: Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and David Brent (Ricky Gervais)

The Horribleness: The cringe inducing regional managers from TV comedy’s longest running bad boss franchise. Michael Scott's idiocy comes thick and fast, or at least that's what she said! And Brent's chilled out entertaining is just a tad more subtly embarrassing, but they both tick all the right boxes, even on the small screen, yeah?

Get In Their Good Books: Laugh at their jokes, make them feel loved and stop them from burning the building down.

But word is Michael Scott is being replaced by that last fella, the spanky Secretary one…