Hollywood used to make sweet, family-friendly Christmas comedies, but today's holiday fare is often more raucous and raunchy. Filmmakers Josh Gordon and Will Speck's Office Christmas Party centers on the Chicago branch of a data storage company presided over by goofy man-child Clay Vanstone (T.J. Miller), whose sister Carol (Jennifer Aniston) is the firm's stern CEO. When Carol threatens to close the office if profits don't soar, Clay decides to host a big Christmas bash in order to convince a visiting executive (Courtney B. Vance) to throw some business their way. Among the employees dragged into the harebrained scheme are a super-sensitive HR head (Kate McKinnon), the branch's nice guy technical officer (Jason Bateman) and his chief computer specialist (Olivia Munn), a perpetually angry customer service rep (Rob Corddry), and an IT supervisor (Karan Soni) so desperate for a date that he hires a gorgeous escort (Abbey Lee) whose pimp (Jillian Bell) is a gun-toting dervish. That only scratches the surface of the sprawling cast, which also includes a sweet secretary (Vanessa Bayer), a dimwitted new hire (Randall Park), and a sassy security guard (Da'Vine Joy Randolph). Needless to say, the party gets completely out of hand, spilling over into the city's streets after a bunch of cocaine is accidentally tossed into a machine pumping out fake snow. But despite the hubbub, this is a surprisingly lackluster film that wants to be wild and crazy but winds up mild and lazy. Not recommended. [Note: Blu-ray extras include both the theatrical and unrated versions of the film, audio commentary by directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck, a “Throwing an Office Christmas Party” making-of featurette (12 min.), outtakes (9 min.), deleted scenes (2 min.), a brief alternate ending, and bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing comedy.] (F. Swietek)
Office Christmas Party
Paramount, 105 min., R, DVD: $29.99, Blu-ray/DVD Combo: $39.99, Apr. 4 Volume 32, Issue 2
Office Christmas Party
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