OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY
US, 2016, 105 minutes, Colour.
Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, T.J.Miller, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Mc Kinnon, Courtney B. Vance, Jillian Bell, Rob Cordrry, Vanessa Bayer, Karan Soni, Abbey Lee.
Directed by Josh Gordon, Will Speck.
Just before the release of this film, Radio National’s Law Report featured a discussion about office Christmas parties, the behaviour at the parties, the drinking, possible drugtaking, the ever present possibilities for sexual harassment – and various participants ending up in the courts.
While there is this kind of behaviour apparent in the film, it is not quite the crass and raucous comedy that the trailer would lead audiences to believe. Yes, it is raucous and crass at times and no credit to a lot of the participants in this kind of let-things-go party. However, for those who want something a little more serious with the raucous, there is actually something of a plot and characters responding to the plot. Bloggers who just wanted the raucous and crass objected to the plot, finding it unfunny. For those who have been overwhelmed and, at the same time, underwhelmed, by films like Dirty Grandpa, Bad Neighbours and silly and sorted hijinks, the plot is needed.
The film is set just before Christmas, of course, and introduces us to a range of people who work in an IT company, the very serious Josh (Jason Bateman), just getting a divorce, trying to be supportive of the CEO, Clay, (T. J .Miller), with plenty of money, and a mixture of good sense and bad sense, attracted to Tracy (Olivia Munn) who is working on a breakthrough project.
Then Carol turns up, Clay’s martinet sister (Jennifer Aniston doing a severer audition piece for a new Horrible Bosses), no humour, more than a little jealous of her brother, wanting to be CEO of the whole company, threatening closure, cutbacks… She is momentarily tempted by the fact that they want to do a deal with an executive played by Courtney B. Vance. The solution: a Christmas party to end all parties, expensive, alcohol, and DJ…
Also in the picture is Mary, Kate Mc Kinnon, the Human Resources officer, more than than a little prim (on the surface) and Rob Cordrry, doing his familiar style, in no way prim.
What happens is a mixture of the earnest, trying to do a deal with the executive and a lot of things getting out of hand, getting more out of hand, getting most out of hand. and, of course, Carol’s flight is delayed by a snowstorm and she turns up disapprovingly.
One of the complications is that a nice young department chief boasts of having a girlfriend but actually phones for an escort, Savannah (Abbey Lee) who comes along with her pimp, Jillian Bell, who gives quite funny variation on this kind of character. By accident, the executive gets a face full of cocaine rather than snow from the snow machine and lets loose.
With the climax, Savannah taking Clay to her pimp’s club, the rest of the main cast in pursuit through the snowy streets of Chicago, building up to a confrontation with Jennifer Aniston showing some martial arts moves, and clay attempting to drive over one of those Chicago bridges as it opens.
Since this is a Christmas story, there are moments of disaster when the lights of Chicago and all Internet connection go out, and then the fairy tale with Tracy’s invention getting everybody back online, the future of the company saved, no jobs lost – but, on their return to the office, wastefully trashed, there is a big cleanup job in store…
What might have been just another of those Bad… Comedies, is somewhat better because of some plot and themes and professional performances.
