Office Christmas Party

This review may contain spoilers!

There have been a great many office party disasters in film but this is going to go down as 2016's worst. I would give Office Christmas Party a 4/10.

The intro for this film starts quite strongly, we get a good insight into the main cast of characters as well as the general plot and themes behind the film. Throughout there are some good gags and laughs, though the best are the ones that get crazier and more extreme than the dialogue scenes. The cinematography is probably the best part of the film, everything looks so crisp and well defined; certainly some of the best camera work I've seen in a comedy film this year.

Jason Bateman, who played Josh Parker, makes for a pretty good main protagonist; his laidback attitude towards banter and crafting relationships with other characters made him immediately likeable. Olivia Munn, who played Tracey Hughes, always does quite well in comedy films; her strong role often leads the action from scene to scene. Jennifer Aniston, who played Carol Vanstone, was a great initial antagonist; her stern manner and constant abrasive attitude was fun to watch. Jillian Bell, who played Trina, was such an over the top role but done in a very funny way by Bell; her intimidating albeit ridiculous presence resulted in a very unique antagonist for the final act. Vanessa Bayer, who played Allison, was a great compassionate role who brought a lot of heart to this film; Bayer creates a role that's easy to relate to and who has a lot of appeal. Da'Vine Joy Randolph, who played Carla, was such an entertaining minor role and one of the funniest characters of the film; Randolph and Bateman had some instant chemistry which led to some of the better scenes of the film. Matt Walsh, who played Ezra, really kicks this film off well; his jibes at Bateman's plight really sets the tone for the comedy used throughout.

However the best performance came from T.J. Miller, who played Clay Vanstone. Miller is an incredible comedic presence, often stealing scenes and throwing out some of the best line delivery of the film. I enjoy how he tries to connect with the rest of the cast and he gives off the vibe that he has a lot of great chemistry with most of them. At the same time there's a very human quality that Miller brings to Clay, you believe he truly cares for his staff and would sacrifice anything to help them out. It's a charming role performed very well.

The story is thrown out the window not too long into the film, potential storylines devolve into weird skits with rather weak punchlines, one of the best examples of this being Vanessa Bayer and Randall Park's 'office romance'. As the story stops paying attention to itself and the comedy fails deliver you can't help getting bored in the long wait between laughs, a clear sign that this film was poorly paced. The editing furthermore let down the nice visual style of this film, moving slow and at odds with the nicely defined shots. The soundtrack for this film was a mismatched monster, often reaching for a punchline rather than adding value to the film.

Kate McKinnon, who played Mary, probably needs to escape these 'Hilary Clinton' type roles before she gets typecast; it's disappointing to watch someone who started this year as a strong comic talent be reduced to a weak link in a strong comic cast. Courtney B. Vance, who played Walter Davis, doesn't really perform a character with such duality very well in this film; his sudden transformation into a party animal feels poorly done and unbelievable. Rob Corddry, who played Jeremy, is one of the performers who manages to fall flat with his jokes the most; Corddry always seems to be trying to hard and is delegated most of the really crude and weak humour. Randall Park, who played Fred, has no purpose in this film whatsoever; his romance with Bayer results in one of the most awkward and cring-inducing scenes that to call it comedy would be a lie. Sam Richardson, who played Joel, didn't really have much screen presence at the start of the film; when Richardson is utilised it's to do little more than to make sound effects for a film struggling to come up with the next good zinger. Karan Soni, who played Nate, is a comedic actor I like which made it all the more disappointing to see that he couldn't handle a leading role; he seems out of place and awkward in his own storyline. Abbey Lee, who played Savannah, fell under Bell's shadow for most of the film; she was a character that fell in the background and was present for mere superficial reasons. Andrew Leeds and Oliver Cooper, who played Tim and Drew respectively, were a duo that didn't really do much and had no impact on the film; their bullying of Soni's role was neither funny nor did it make them very good antagonists. Ben Falcone, who played the Doctor, was victim to repeated jokes from earlier in the film which took away from his appearance; frankly by the time his cameo came around it seemed unnecessary to fit him in at all. Fortune Feimster, who played Lonny, was a weak minor role; swearing loudly does not a comedic actress make. Jimmy Butler, who played himself, is one of the worst cameos to be performed this year; Butler looks as confused about being in this film as I was watching him in this film. Nick Peine, who played Rodney, was probably the most unnecessary character of the film; Peine was often given more screen time than his character deserved and should have been treated as a role that popped in to deliver a joke as opposed to a genuine minor role.