Fiesta de Navidad en la oficina

I was looking to watch a funny Christmas movie that isn't Elf or A Christmas Story so I gave this a chance since I really like Jason Bateman and I can say I was entertained throughout the whole thing. It's not the greatest movie ever but it checked the boxes I was looking for while watching. It's definitely stupid humor but it gave me a few good laughs

If you study film, you know that entire texts have been written on the importance of "grounding" in a script.

The ground, also known as the glue, is the character that the viewer finds most relatable, most sympatico, when the story itself starts fray around the edges. Which is not to say that all scripts require a strong ground or glue, merely that the more outrageous scripts, the scripts with the least internal cohesion, require as much ground as they can get.

Which brings us to OFFICE XMAS PARTY, one of the more blatant examples of a "spaghetti on the wall" script. In other words, not a lot of fine tuning was done to get this baby ready for shooting day. The writers just took every gag they could think of, threw it against the wall, and then waited to see what stuck.

Some of it stuck, most did not.

But Bateman and Munn hold the film together by holding the attention of the viewer. In fact, they are so effortless at it that, every now and then, for just a split second, you almost think they are acting in another movie entirely, a romcom in which they are the only characters, and you are imagining the other 400 extras in this overdone extravaganza.

Is it funny? Not really. This reviewer laughed exactly once.

Is it engaging? Well, because of Bateman and Munn, actually it is.

Nothing nothing awkward or cheesy. Perfectly paced, perfect characther building in such a short amount of time. Perfectly timed and subtle jokes and pretty great acting.

Even the hundreds of extra's were flawlessly directed.

Good laughs and no restrictons. They went all out in a very un-American way.

Kudos to the director.

I always like a good Bateman flick but this one has everyone else too. It's a bit of an obnoxious and almost surreal film that gets me with every watch. It's kinda like an actual Office movie but without a censor or Steve Carell.

The story is pretty straight forward with characters that are too real and simultaneously unqualified for their job. What's great about it is it's a people movie. Personalities shine through the main cast, supporting cast and even the bit parts. The pacing never drags and the movie almost feels like it could've gone a little longer. I doubt we will ever see a sequel, but one can hope.

They really don't know what they're talking about.

Hilarious Hard-R screwball comedy, smart, wonderfully acted, tight script, with funny improv from a lot of talented actors with solid comedy cred.

It's a party blowout movie. Bachelor Party. Can't Hardly Wait. Superbad. Old School. It's like that. A great way to spend a couple of hours.