Intended as a feel-good, calamity film for the festive season, this one tries hard but produces few, if any, belly laughs.
Morale is at an all-time low at IT company Zenotek’s Chicago office after its hard-ass, pragmatic interim CEO Carol Vanstone (Jennifer Aniston) announces plans sack 40 per cent of its work force and ban bonuses just days before Christmas. And, to add insult to injury, she has banned the office Christmas party. The only thing that can alleviate the tension and allow the status quo to be maintained is winning the business of a high profile client (Courtney B. Vance), which seems like a bridge far too far. But eccentric branch president (and Carol’s kid brother) Clay Vanstone (T.J. Miller) enlists the help of Chief Technical Officer Josh Parker (Jason Bateman) and Lead Systems Engineer Tracey Hughes (Olivia Munn) to do just that. The device they use is the banned Christmas party, but not just any party, rather a party to end all parties, where loutish behavior and over imbibing are not only permitted but encouraged.
“The office Christmas party is really a throwback to a less civilised time,” says producer Scott Stuber. “The ‘Holiday’ party today is like a house-broken pug … it’s not going to hurt anyone and it plays well with children, but somewhere, deep down it still has that dire wolf DNA.” “An office Christmas party isn’t a religious celebration,” argues T. J. Miller. “It’s a celebration of letting go and not being afraid to tell your boss what you really think without getting fired.”
Directors Will Speck and Josh Gordon (Blades of Glory) were drawn to the concept of a magical night where professional and social barriers were less defined, so to speak. “There’s a universal wish fulfillment in having one night of the year where people live honestly, perhaps with some help from drugs and alcohol,” says Speck. “The office Christmas party really breaks down the caste system,” says Gordon. “Suddenly everyone from the top of the food chain to the bottom is equalised and that makes for a great comedic jumping off point.”
Among the scriptwriters is Dan Mazer (Bridget Jones’s Baby, Bruno). The mix here includes a liberal smattering of people behaving badly and others outside their comfort zone – a combination of bad language, sight gags, one liners and revelations. The basic premise is merely an excuse, or a vehicle, in which to introduce the key and secondary players, all of whom have back stories. Given the state of the business, early on it simply becomes of case of doing everything possible just to survive, let alone thrive.
Bateman plays the straightest lace of the characters, along with the head of HR (Kate McKinnon), who is all about political correctness, until she lets loose towards the end. Aniston’s character’s persona is simply that of an uptight bitch, who doesn’t appear to care about anyone other than herself. Her brother is the complete opposite – hardly a business whiz kid, but a team player. And what a team – the hangs up and proclivities of this mob are a psychologist’s dream. That, of course, is what the writers play on and it kept me watching, if not all that consumed by the material. Break-ups and hooks-ups, expectations and fears are played out.
In terms of laugh aloud funny, I did so a couple of times with the outtakes at the end of the movie … so, “yes”, I would have liked more. Office Christmas Party is not a disaster, rather a relatively formulaic, light-hearted comedy for the holidays. Rated MA, it scores a 6 out of 10.
Director: Josh Gordan, Will Speck
Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, T.J. Miller, Olivia Munn
Release Date: 8 December 2016
Rating: MA 15+
Alex First
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television