Movie Review: Melissa McCarthy is ‘The Boss’ as star and co-writer

Who’s “The Boss?” Well, in movie terms in 2016, the answer to that was fairly easy: Melissa McCarthy.

The “Mike & Molly” and “Gilmore Girls” alum’s film career has been an ever-fluctuating series of hits and misses ever since she struck the bullseye with her marvelously bawdy, Oscar-nominated work in “Bridesmaids,” but it’s a thrill to see her still riding reasonably high ... especially, in some cases, with projects she generates for herself.

“The Boss” — which Freeform presents Thursday, March 21, and Friday, March 22 — was one of those, and as with “Tammy” a couple of years earlier, she also was a co-writer of it with husband Ben Falcone, the film’s director. She plays a self-actualization guru who gets into legal trouble and goes to prison, then has to take a sizable dose of her own medicine and rebuild her life once she gets out.

She’s helped in several ways by her former assistant, played by a winning Kristen Bell, who’s smart for knowing and grabbing a good supporting role when she sees one. There’s a lot of business about humanizing McCarthy’s Michelle Darnell, and that lets the actress put some spins on the image she has cemented through her television work.

The rest plays out a lot like Diane Keaton’s “Baby Boom,” with Bell giving McCarthy the incentive to get back into the business swing by marketing a certain product in a unique way. While the premise may be familiar, it’s the McCarthy twist that provides the difference, reaffirming the natural talent that elevated her from the supporting ranks to her current status in stardom. Remaining likable to an audience, even when your alter ego does some not-so-likable things, is a gift.