Review of Office Christmas Party (2016) by Dennis S — 08 Dec 2016

Remind me never to go to an office Christmas party - or any office party for that matter. I'm just not willing to risk it. If the examples that appear on the big screen are any indication, these events are, at best, strange - or, at worst, downright scary. In 1988, "Die Hard" showed us a Christmas party that was taken over by terrorists! 2016's aptly named "Office Christmas Party" (R, 1:45) features people jousting with Christmas trees, heavy objects falling from tall buildings, people trying to jump tall bridges with their cars, pimps with guns - and party guests getting hospitalized! No, I don't ever want to go to any office Christmas parties, and if you're smart, given these cinematic cautionary tales, you shouldn't either. But should you go to the movie "Office Christmas Party"? Well, that is the question now, isn't it?

Clay Vanstone (T.J. Miller) is in trouble. He's the manager of the original branch of national technology company Zenotech, but his branch is struggling to pull its weight and his joyless and mean-spirited sister, Carol (Jennifer Aniston), the CEO of Zenotech (since Clay and Carol's father died) is threatening to close down the branch - or at least put a big lump of coal in the stockings of many of its employees. Clay, along with Josh Parker (Jason Bateman), his Chief Technical Officer and best friend, tries to figure out a way to save the branch. Josh's assistant, Tracey (Olivia Munn), thinks she has an innovation idea that could do the trick, but Josh thinks that her idea isn't ready to demonstrate. Instead, the three of them focus on the strategy of winning the business of prospective client Walter Davis (Courtney B. Vance).

Clay, Josh and Tracey decide to show Walter that they are the kind of people he wants to deal with, by inviting him to their office Christmas party - and making it the funnest office party ever. As they're about the business of pulling together the party of the century in five hours and making it into the most fun their colleagues have ever had with their clothes on (for those who keep them on, that is), several of the people of Zenotech have their own individual struggles to deal with. Besides their business rivalry, there's a deep-seated sibling rivalry between Clay and Carol. Josh is newly divorced and is starting to make eyes at Tracey. Meanwhile, a nerdy employee named Nate (Karan Soni) keeps talking about a girlfriend whom others believe he has made up, while an employee named Allison (Vanessa Bayer) and another named Fred (Randall Park) are flirting with each other and a human resources representative named Mary Winetoss (Kate McKinnon) is zealously monitoring the behavior of all her co-workers.

This movie is a semi-enjoyable, but semi-lazy holiday comedy. The story can be described as a mash-up of "Unfinished Business" (2015), "Project X" (2012), "Horrible Bosses" (2011), "Billy Madison" (1995) and "Die Hard". The basic plot is reasonably creative, but the script is mostly uninspired, unrealistic and predictable and the directing lacks energy. The comedy comes from a combination of juvenile hijinks, sexual humor, politically incorrect satire, wild sight gags and slapstick. There are several laugh-out-loud moments, but too much of the humor is uninspired and unfunny. Most of the cast members are not very effective, with the notable exception of McKinnon (showing off another version of her uptight-slash-odd comic persona), while Miller and Bateman hold their own, as do Jillian Bell (playing that aforementioned gun-toting pimp) and Da'Vine Joy Randolph (as a pleasant but tough security guard). The cast also includes a fair number of little known and unknown comic actors who show potential. If you get invited to "Office Christmas Party" by a friend and you don't expect too much, you may well have some fun, but this is one party that you probably shouldn't reshuffle your plans in order to attend. "C+".