Just like Will Speck and Josh Gordon’s 2010 film, The Switch , Office Christmas Party is borderline funny. Much like parties you have attended, the film works if you are in a mood for silly laughs. With the right company, you just might forgive the predictable plot — you could even play the “what happens next” game with a prize for the one who guesses all the proceedings right.
So there is uptight, wicked CEO Carol Vanstone of Zenotek, who wants to shut down her brother, Clay’s branch for under-performing. He decides to throw the mother of all Christmas parties to woo a client, close the deal and save the branch.
You see the snow machine and you know cocaine is going to be in the mix, you know wicked Carol will not catch her flight to London and be the party pooper, you know the pious HR woman will let loose on the dance floor …
Office Christmas Party is saved by good performances from a talented cast including T.J. Miller as Clay, Jason Bateman as Josh, Clay’s right hand man and Jennifer Aniston as Carol — Rachel’s ghost from Friends hasn’t been completely exorcised. There is an Indian representation in the form of Karan Soni as nerdy Nate who gets his own Christmas miracle.
The film suffers from too many subplots that include an Uber driver, a hot escort and her scatty ‘manager’, a single mom, a fetishist, a bad tempered customer relations officer, delayed flights, a scary little girl and a basketball star.
All in all, Office Christmas Party is not a bad way to spend an evening — it is the season to be merry after all.
