Rent Office Christmas Party on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Jon Lucas & Scott Moore and Timothy Dowling (story by), Justin Malen and Laura Solon and Dan Mazer (screenplay by)
Directed by: Josh Gordon, Will Speck
Starring: Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, T.J. Miller, Jillian Bell, Courtney B. Vance, Rob Corddry, Sam Richardson, andall Park, Kate McKinnon, Jennifer Aniston
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
When his uptight CEO sister threatens to shut down his branch, the branch manager throws an epic Christmas party in order to land a big client and save the day, but the party gets way out of hand...
Verdict
It's a movie with a wild, giant party that happens to occur during the holidays. While the ensemble cast provides plenty of antics and this tries to provide the main characters with some amount of characterization, it boils down to how wild and depraved this party gets. In an effort to provide some semblance of story, the office party is the cause and solution to a major problem. There's not much more to this movie than marveling at the ridiculous shenanigans.
Skip it.
Review
Siblings with a rivalry fight over their tech company Zenotek. Carol (Jennifer Aniston) is the interim CEO and wants to close her branch manager brother Clay (T. J. Miller) and CTO Josh's (Jason Bateman) under-performing branch. That's fueled by their father always favoring Clay. Her ultimatum is the branch can shut down or Clay must lay off forty-percent of the employees as well as canceling the office Christmas party and bonuses.
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| Jennifer Anniston, T.J. Miller play Carol, Clay |
While Tracey (Olivia Munn) touts her new research and the potential income as a reason to maintain the branch, it's unproven technology. The only way to save the branch is to get a big contract that seems unlikely, though they're meeting with Walter (Courtney B. Vance) that day. Walter doesn't reject them, but he asks why he would choose Zenotek when he could choose a proven company like Dell. He also bemoans the lack of company culture in modern corporations, and that sparks Clay's idea to reinstate the company Christmas party under the guise of enticing Walter to get his company's contract.
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| Olivia Munn, Jason Bateman play Tracey, Josh |
Clay goes overboard on the party with reindeer, plenty of alcohol, and he dresses up as Santa planning to hand out cash bonuses. He wants this to be a big night. Clay may be fun, but it's clear he's not a great manager as we've seen him make plenty of poor decisions. Then you have an employee that hires a prostitute to play the part of his non-existent girlfriend he's bragged about. NBA star Jimmy Butler shows up to expand his brand. Walter arrives and immediately thinks he's made a mistake, but he's coaxed to stay. When Walter accidentally consumes coke, this movie definitely get sillier and the party rowdier. Carol discovers the party and rushes back to the office to close the branch which causes a riot.
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| Courtney B. Vance, T.J. Miller play Walter, Clay |
The movie culminates in Josh, Tracey, and others chasing after a drunk Clay who's with the prostitute and her pimp who want to rob him. That ends in a Fast and Furious inspired car crash which shuts down the city's power grid, but that in turn provides Tracey the opportunity to enact her idea and save the day.
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