Corner Office

A tale of absurdity, distance, disaffection and solace "Corner Office" is a glimpse at the comfort people seek through the compartmentalized isolation of the modern corporate world. Orson is an employee in a typical office. Tall, spectacled, withdrawn and strangely inscrutable he's the bonafide oddball who elicits immediate amusement. When he takes constant visits to "The Room", a place situated between the office and the toilet coworkers and the boss react predictably leading to some tense moments considering it's only Orson who believes the room exists. With his brushed-down hair, glasses, moustache, stare from below, slightly bloated features and articulate monotone Jon Hamm's neurotic nerve-wracked Orson is the star of the show as he steals every scene embodying the surreal singularity of this modern day Bartleby. Like most offbeat films there are parts that drag but to viewers with a taste for the different this is well worth the view. A reflective portrayal of alienation in an age of indifference, negativity and self-centeredness "Corner Office" is a dark comedic gaze at society and the comfort zone people desperately seek to survive, whether it exists or not.

It's been a while since I watched a real movie. It was sufficient for me to know that John Hamm was starring in a dark comedy for me to watch it with no further information. I do believe its best to just watch it with minimal prior awareness. Just like some excellent movies of yesteryears, this movie will grip you and stay with you even after the end credits roll.

Anybody with a creative bent and also work experience in a corporate environment will quickly warm up to the protagonist and identify with him. Creative people want the same things as others, but others fail to accept the manner in which creative people operate.

The movie is a critique on the culture of supremacy of mediocrity. It isn't that mediocre people are without their little fallacies and foibles, but somehow their issues are ignored. The odd behavior of a creative person, regardless of his or her contribution is however chastised.

If you've had enough years of life experience in the work force, then this movie will provide some catharsis. The protagonist experiences the same fears, pride, and injustices you have experienced and so you feel less alone.

I'd whole heartedly recommend this movie to folks with some professional life experience. If you've got a bit of creativity in you, you'll like this move even more.

I liked it, but then I find movies (and other art forms) concerning the act of work, especially office work, quite engrossing. I can understand why it might seem weird and unremarkable to some. Perhaps you need to have experienced office work, especially in a large, soulless space, toiling for a large, soulless organisation, to appreciate some of the nuances and petty frictions on display here. The more I think about the film, the more it chimes with me. It's one man raging against the machine and finding his own way of managing the profound frustrations of being misunderstood and under-appreciated.

In off-centre, dark dramedy "Corner Office" (adapted by Ted Cupper from Jonas Karlsson's book 'The Room') Jon Hamm (always strong) is a new employee (under Christopher Heyerdahl alongside the likes of Danny Pudi & Allison Riley (with Sarah Gafon in support)) at a dull, grey, monolithic corporation, which tho contempory feels backwards & Seventies (in a "Wristcutters: A Love Story" stylee). Told from Hamm's perspective it's soon clear he's mentally ill, imagining for example the plush titular office (which no-one else can see) where he gathers his thoughts. Joachim Back delivers a quirkily interesting film in distinctive style... but it won't be to everyone's taste.

In the perspective of Orson it's his refuge from ugliness. In times where children being left increasingly uncared for only to be grown and become a foot soldier in a crusade to quench the corporate desires it's a fertile ground to grow more Orsons. Visuals are perfect to signify the coldness and impenetrable ways of the massive structures where ants rush. A great story that mocks what's accepted as normal. Hopeless staring at a world left behind out there is what's left to do when routine entrapment seemed hopeless. Great meaningful use of audio. Excellent performances by the cast. In this corner office you will be left to choose between alternatives and that's a fun experience.