Salon 's Andrew O 'Hehir offered a mixed response , characterizing the film as a " lot funnier in theory than in practice , but it won 't ruin your Saturday night " . Salon appreciated the " effortless comic chemistry " between Sudeikis , Bateman and Day and singled out Bateman , Aniston and Spacey for their performances . O 'Hehir was however critical of the perceived homophobia , sexism and racism . The Hollywood Reporter 's Kirk Honeycutt responded negatively , stating the jokes failed to be funny , stating " Seth Gordon shows no flair for turning the absurdities and cartoonish characters in the script ... into anything more than a collection of moments in search of laughs . " Karina Longworth of The Village Voice was critical of the premise , which she felt lacked any legitimate " rage " against the characters ' bosses , stating " ... it 's every sign that , even without these particular emasculators , Dale , Kurt and Nick would still be — for lack of a better word — total pussies . " Longworth felt that the humor was " rarely actually laugh @-@ out @-@ loud funny , and never truly dark or daring " . She particularly criticized the all @-@ white , male protagonists and a plot she deemed racist and filled with " stereotypes " . Justin Chang of Variety praised the performance of the ensemble cast , but considered the plot to be " predictably moronic , vulgar and juvenile " . Chang echoed the sentiments of The Village Voice in lamenting that the film failed to pursue the premise to " darker , more daring territory " and faulted it for falling back on " over @-@ the @-@ top comic exaggeration " .