Bitty Boss lacking bite

approach for the entire 99-minute running time.

Darnell feels like she would be better suited to a short, Saturday Night Live comedy sketch rather than being stretched out to a full-length feature film.

It’s just as well, then, that The Boss is no onewoman show, and in its supporting cast the movie finds some of its mojo.

Kristen Bell (Claire) – who has quickly become a hugely reliable presence in the comedy genre – lets McCarthy inflict all sorts of verbal abuse on her, but shines through as the film’s true heart.

Just about stealing the show, though, is Game of Thrones’ Peter Dinklage as Darnell’s ex-lover Renault. The vain corporate shark may be a long way from Tyrion Lannister aesthetically, but shares his love for verbal jousting and scheming plots.

The Boss is far from a laugh-free zone and peaks with a memorably mad showdown involving two groups of rival Girl Scouts that wouldn’t look out of place in an Anchorman movie.

However, other gags range from throwaway and inconsistent to downright unfunny and the mid-section goes downhill faster than Eddie the Eagle wearing a jet pack.

Some comedies can endure the introduction of gooey schmaltz but The Boss isn’t one of them as Falcone fails to learn from the mistakes made with Tammy.

The result is an uneven hotchpotch of ideas and tonal shifts as inconsistent as McCarthy’s career path.