In the hit new film comedy "Horrible Bosses," an ex-Lehman Brothers executive who is jobless and desperate for money offers sexual favors to some old buddies in return for cash.
While that may seem a little out of place, the director of "Hollywood Bosses" sees many more such jokes and plots in films, given the currently weak economy.
Director Seth Gordon said his movie, about three old friends who feel stuck in their jobs so they plot to kill their mean bosses, reflected real people's struggles to change jobs.
"You are going to see a bunch of movies that are themed in this way about people that are stuck in some way and want to restart and possibly can't. I think that premise is something that is really relatable right now," Gordon said.
"Horrible Bosses," stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis as three average Americans being bullied by their bosses -- one played by Jennifer Aniston in her raunchiest role yet as an oversexed dentist -- who want to move up the ladder but can't. Its big-name supporting cast includes Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey and Colin Farrell.
"We needed to put a fine point on the fact that these guys didn't have other options," said Gordon, adding that without plotting to go as far as kill their bosses, many real Americans could relate to feeling stuck in their current job.
The main characters are in their thirties, they have taken a job or a series of jobs and they have ended up in a place that in the current economy is relatively fragile," said the director, whose career has included directing episodes of hit TV series, "The Office."
Apart from a wacky turn by Farrell playing a sleazy, cocaine addicted womanizer, Jennifer Aniston is likely to capture the most attention as a sexually aggressive dentist who hits on her subordinate, played by Day, because it plays against her all-American, good girl image, and boy does it.
Aniston said her racy role, in which she relentlessly sexually harasses Day, "was incredibly fun to play, especially since it's the kind of role that a guy would normally play."
The screenwriters said they had her in mind when they wrote the role. "Isn't that incredible?" Aniston said. "I love a man with an imagination."
Should be a big weekend at the box office for "Horrible Bosses."