The entity that is the Office Christmas Party is something that is ripe for a Hollywood seasonal comedy with a broad cast of comic actors and actresses doing their thing and each having their moment to shine. In that vein, Office Christmas Party succeeds in providing some laughs, a great ensemble and a holiday work party that gets just slightly out of hand.
But, Office Christmas Party also underwhelms due to the fact that it tries to be more than it should be. A raucous party movie that shows otherwise uptight people letting loose would be a fascinating and unique addition to the office movie subgenre. But, with a lesson in sibling rivalry gone wrong at the heart of this plot, the film suffers a weight in the heart department that didn’t necessarily need to be there.
T.J. Miller plays Clay Vanstone and he’s running the Chicago branch of a tech company that is barely keeping its head above water. His sister Carol (Jennifer Aniston) is the company’s CEO and it was a position given to her by their late father… who always seemed to have a soft spot for his clueless and aimless son. Miller’s office is a tight knit group, despite the wicked witch of the workplace Carol hovering over them. Carol will close the branch if they don’t get Courtney B. Vance’s Walter Davis to sign with them by the close of business. When they learn that Davis enjoys a good party, Clay and his cohorts decide to throw the mother of all office Christmas parties in hopes of showing him a good time and getting his name on the dotted line to save their company.
The ensemble cast is comic goodness. From Jason Bateman’s straight man Josh, to Olivia Munn’s IT expert Tracey, Rob Corrdry’s Jeremy and Kate McKinnon’s uptight HR exec, Mary. When word gets out that the company must pull together and throw the biggest bash any office party has ever seen, all hands are on deck and we’re off to the races.
But, before long, we learn that all is not what it seems and when Carol’s flight to London is canceled because of snow, she shows up at the party (that she specifically cancelled) and things really spiral out of control… literally onscreen and figuratively with the movie itself.
At the screening this writer attended, there were a tons of laugh-out-louds heard from throughout the crowd that was mixed with early movie attendees and critics. So, Office Christmas Party should be a crowd pleaser this holiday season and just the senseless and mindless comedy film that many of us need when the headlines out there are almost too serious to take from the real world we live in. But, then again, why would we expect much else than a raging party film from a movie called Office Christmas Party. And with the comic talents headlining this thing, especially McKinnon, Bateman (whose film it really is to top line), Aniston and Miller (who is one seriously underrated comedic talent)… it does solicit the laughs more than moments that get the groans.
Like too many comedies, it does not quite know when to stop or how to conclude. And that is one of the biggest faults of the flick. It’s not that it goes on too long, the film is an adequate length, it’s just that plot-wise, it meanders through the last half of the third act and never finds a firm landing to stick. It also has trouble concluding in a way that is believable in this world where the audience is more tech savvy than ever. No endings will be given away here, but we just don’t buy that the solution to all the problems laid out through the entire comedy could be so readily fixed by a few hints dropped in the first act that failed to come from any type of firm platform.
Overall, for a holiday comedy… you could do worse. There’s one coming soon featuring a family learning to take in a wild man as a potential son-in-law that is just this side of terrible. Compared to that vehicle, Office Christmas Party is a Rolls Royce. But, rating comedies on a scale that includes some of the better office funny films (such as Office Space and its ilk), Office Christmas Party is simply average.
Grade: C+