‘Office Christmas Party’ Review: Wasted Talent

In the shambling ensemble comedy Office Christmas Party, Kate McKinnon plays the uptight Human Resources person at an unruly tech outfit, a job about as thankless as hall monitor in Rock “n” Roll High School. “Have that much Honey Baked Ham in the afternoon”. With the help of Chief Technical Officer Josh Parker (Jason Bateman) and bad-ass Tracey (Olivia Munn), they throw an epic party to impress the client Walter (Courtney B. Vance).

When Miller, who also now plays Erlich Bachman on Silicon Valley, finally gets around to talking about Office Christmas Party, he’s still on message.

Fun-loving Clay (T.J. Miller) inherited the founding branch of his father’s data server company, Zenotech.

‘Office Christmas Party’ is harmless but I still want to see the genre pushed further. Unfortunately, his tightly-wound sister Carol (Jennifer Aniston) is temporary CEO following their dad’s death, and she threatens layoffs or to close their branch if numbers don’t improve.

Miller, who once worked as a legal secretary in the same Chicago office building seen in the film, says the movie is silly and fun but shares his core comedy philosophy.

And you’ve got to love just a little a dumb movie that’s smart enough to work in references to recently departed Prince and David Bowie, and also to twit Aniston for her real-life huckstering of Smartwater drinks. For that to happen, you’d actually have to remember this movie exists, which will be a struggle the second you leave the theater. So, the most surreal moment of my life came doing this film, when I was walking over the bridge over the Chicago River with Jason Bateman. It’s just one of those things that’s a shorthand for describing who I am.

So then, whether intentional or not, it’s the women of Office Christmas Party who end up saving the day more than anyone else. “We got really, really fortunate, given this IS a Christmas movie!” In a film that goes to the trouble of referencing Gone Girl, the unselfconscious persistence of this male fantasy doesn’t seem offensive so much as simply behind the times.

Gordon and Speck do a good job nudging the proceedings along – the film never lags, briskly zipping through set-up and plot, peppered with nearly too many jokes, ad libs, one-liners, riffs and reaction shots to count.

A lot of this feels like the Silicon Valley TV series but not as well written. Clay is the result of nepotism, and although he’s good-natured, clearly Josh is the one running the branch. That’s me in Hollywood.