Office Christmas Party (2016) film review

Year: 2016
Running Time: 105 minutes
Directors: Josh Gordon and Will Speck
Writers: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore and Timothy Dowling (story), Justin Malen, Laura Solon and Dan Mazer (screenplay)
Cast: Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, T.J. Miller, Jennifer Aniston, Kate McKinnon, Vanessa Bayer, Courtney B. Vance, Rob Corddry, Karan Soni, Randall Park

Office Christmas Party is now showing in cinemas everywhere and is distributed in Australian by Entertainment One.

Josh Gordon and Will Speck's Office Christmas Party is not much more than a stereotypical lewd party comedy with the likes of Santa Claus, a few Christmas trees and fairy lights thrown in to make it relevant to the season.

The holiday season is closing in quickly at Chicago's Zenotek office and morale is low. Things are only set to get worse when CEO, Carol Vanstone (Jennifer Aniston) announces that she will be closing her brother, Clay's (T.J. Miller) branch down. In a last minute attempt to save their office, Clay, Josh (Jason Bateman) and Tracey (Olivia Munn) organise an explosive Christmas party to impress a potential client, Walter Davis (Courtney B. Vance) who could save their branch if he agrees to work with them. What ensues is a night of absolute mayhem which is a throwback to the work Christmas parties of old where anything goes.

Perhaps the most unfortunate thing about Office Christmas Party is that when there is not a party involved, it is actually far from painful. The actual party itself is a colossal mash-up of as much crude humour that could take place at any event where a great deal of alcohol and drugs are being consumed. There is nothing subtle nor even remotely original about the film's attempts at humour during this time and it will take fans with this particular type of humour to conjure up a giggle or two.

Yet, the script and humour involved before and after the party is quite entertaining with some great banter taking place between the main players including Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, T.J. Miller and Jennifer Aniston. There are deeper themes involved including the ongoing economic worries that plague corporate business, but these more serious plot points are pushed aside so to make way for the grand attraction of Christmas party shenanigans.

It's inevitable that Office Christmas Party will do well at the box office as during the few weeks leading up to the holidays, people are drawn toward seeing films that are in the Christmas spirit. The truth of the matter is that Office Christmas Party is really not much of a festive movie. It's disguised as a festive film by all the things which symbolise Christmas, which also includes the infamous work Christmas party. The screenplay could well exist without it being set during the Christmas season, but it would be unlikely to grasp the attention of the public and unlikely to have achieved the attention of the impressive comedic cast.

It almost feels cliché to say that the cast  (who are all highly respected comedic actors) are all underused in this film. It is completely evident that each tries to do all they can with the material that is given to them, but even those who are especially talented when it comes to improvisation (eg. Kate McKinnon and T.J. Miller) struggle to make something of merit. However, it would be unfair to say that Office Christmas Party is not funny at all if you are not a fan of dirty humour, as there are some moments which are very amusing. All the characters in the film are fairly safe and stereotypical of their surroundings, but each actor knows their character well enough (especially Bateman, Aniston and Karan Soni as Nate) to be able to fit into them comfortably and bring out the best in them.

Office Christmas Party may not be the holiday fix one would like to experience at the cinemas this season, but is entertaining enough thanks to it's talented cast.

5/10

Just Go With It

Just Go With It
Year: 2011
Director: Dennis Dugan
Cast: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Brooklyn Decker, Nicole Kidman

In My Own Words
For how much I normally crticize Jennifer Aniston and her lack of versatility as a motion picture actress, I may actually be warming to her. In "Just Go With It", I enjoyed her more in this film than I have in anything else since "Friends". I am trying to figure out why. It wasn't an amazing performance by any means, but it was maybe because the role suited her comfortably and she was just real, likable and funny. It is no joke that Aniston loves her romantic-comedy roles and she has now been typecast at that type of actress. So when did this become a bad thing? Sure it can be tiresome after we see the same character over and over again in different films and we can make assumptions that the actor's talent range is not quite as broad as some others,  but when they do that role really well? I haven't heard anyone criticize Sylvester Stallone or Jean Claude Van Damme for mainly playing the action roles, so maybe I should give Jennifer Aniston a break for playing the same roles. She does them well and if she enjoys doing them, then who is to tell her it's wrong? Even though I am sure she gets paid a great deal for these movies, I am sure she wouldn't be doing the romantic comedies if she really didn't want to and if she wanted to do something else. So maybe we should "just go with it" ourselves and accept that this is who Jennifer Aniston is and what she wants to do.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
The teaser poster for "Just Go With It" does what a perfect movie poster does, it shows exactly what the film is going to be about and you know what to expect. It's the age old love triangle flick where one person is just the helper between two peope who really do like each other with a Hawaiian backdrop. "Just Go With It" fulfils it's goal, it's entertaining and fun. Not a contender for any awards, but not the worst film of the year. "Just Go With It" is a remake of the 1969 movie "Cactus Flower" which starred Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman and the newcomer, Goldie Hawn. In the 2011 version, Danny (Adam Sandler) has been burnt once and refuses to let himself be burnt again, so he tells every girl that he is already married . Therefore, he can sleep with them and then there is no commitment expected of him so no one get's hurt! His theory no longer becomes applicable when he meets Palmer (Brooklyn Decker), who he wants to become serious with, but she doesn't want to date a married man. Danny's lie becomes bigger and bigger when he talks his assistant, Katherine ( Jennifer Aniston) into pretending to be his ex-wife and her also children become a grand part of his plan, especially when they all take off to Hawaii for a big "family" holiday.

"Just Go With It" fits into the same categories as many other Adam Sandler films, and also the same as many other Jennifer Aniston films. It is a stereotypical film for both of the lead actors. It is the romantic comedy which Aniston is greatly associated with and the screwball comedy which Sandler is largely known for. However, this does not detract from the film itself. There are some very funny moments and it really is a lot of fun. A lot of the comedic moments are very random, but they are in good taste and are of the universal sense of humour. As one might expect, it really is very predictable and there is no doubt in your mind how the film is going to end. The setting of Hawaii for the holiday adds to the fun of the film, as well as the visual attractiveness.

Adam Sandler is fine in this film and he does his job with ease. He does have some tender moments, such as when he is on the phone to Katherine, but overall he could had a bit more of a connection to Katherine's children, Maggie and Michael. However, him and Aniston are a great on screen duo. The dialogue between the two is very witty and funny, and you can completely believe that these two are close friends who have known each other for years. Aniston does well in the role fo Katherine, even though it is not too far removed from many of her past roles. She still does well and is very easy to like. Model Brooklyn Decker is okay in her role as Danny's young love interest, but she is not extremely convincing in her role and her performance is not at all ground-breaking. Keep an eye out for a hilarious cameo by her real life tennis player husband, Andy Roddick. Nicole Kidman is actually quite annoying in this film as Katherine's "frienemy" Devlin, but she is supposed to be irritating. It is quite a different role for Kidman as she normally drifts towards the more dramatic roles, so it is actually refreshing to see her relax a bit and do something a bit more fun. Special mention must go to Bailee Madison who plays Katherine's daughter Maggie. She is an absolute little charmer from her first scene onwards and she is hilarious. Madison is one actress to watch out for in the next few years.

"Just Go With It" is a great deal of fun. It is very light and easy going and stereotypical, but is nevertheless fun to watch and a good laugh.
7/10

The Bounty Hunter

The Bounty Hunter
Year: 2010
Director: Andy Tennant
Cast: Gerard Butler, Jennifer Aniston, Christine Baranski

In My Own Words
I try not to take too much notice of other film reviews before I see a film myself and can form an opinion myself. I don’t like to feel as though I have been persuaded to feel a certain way about a film. But the reviews for “The Bounty Hunter” were pretty hard to ignore, who can ignore the declaration that this is the worst movie of 2010! I was not looking forward to seeing this film for that reason. Maybe I wouldn’t have seen it at all until it came out on DVD unless I had a free ticket. Walking into the cinema, I was definitely prepared to see the worst movie I would see all year. It’s funny how a film that has a stigma attached to it as being a really, really bad film can sometimes make people want to watch it. I was actually curious to see it to make an educated decision as to whether it really is the worst film of the year, and to see really how bad it was. Almost like when I wanted to see “Gigli” with Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez and Al Pacino, just to see how horrible it really was.

Well, it wasn’t good, but it wasn’t the worst film I had seen this year at the cinemas. I believe “Old Dogs” takes that prize thus far. So it’s probably the second worst movie I have seen so far this year. I am pretty sure that minus the film’s two main stars, the film would have been a B grade, straight to DVD film. One good thing did come out of this film though. I wasn’t a big Jennifer Aniston fan before this film, but she was probably the best thing about this film and I was impressed that she could carry such a bad film.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
“The Bounty Hunter” is just silly. That is the best word to describe the film. It is over the top and completely predictable. Even by looking at the poster for the film, you can tell exactly what the ending is. The concept is not one which is meant to be serious in the first place and does seem to be perfect for a comedy, but could have been toned down far more than how it was presented. Every ex-husband out there will toy with the idea of taking their ex-wife to jail and do so with glee, but the presentation of it as an on screen comedy just doesn’t work. Milo (Gerard Butler) is an ex-policeman who makes his money by being a bounty hunter. He is over the moon when he finds out that there is a warrant on his ex-wife, Nicole (Jennifer Aniston). Milo becomes mixed up with a story which Nicole is researching for her paper and it turns out he is not the only one after his ex-wife.

The major problem with this film is that everything is completely exaggerated. Perhaps the most irritating exaggeration is the music in the film. The music does not compliment the scenes, it overpowers it. There is no such thing in this film as background music and a subtle musical score, it is in your face the whole time and is just plain annoying. The characters are also extremely exaggerated. Maybe not the characters of Nicole and Milo, but the characters around them just seem to have way too much character. It is almost as if director, Andy Tennant is trying too hard to make “The Bounty Hunter” into a hilarious and successful film. Maybe if he didn’t try so hard, it wouldn’t have come across as such a mess.

Gerard Butler definitely does not give his bets performance in the film, but he is definitely not one of the striking bad points in the film. There isn’t a great deal of acting or even effort that goes into his performance. Jennifer Aniston does not do a bad job either. However, the role is much like other roles which she has done in the past and is a role she does well. These two stars save the film from being a complete waste of time.

“The Bounty Hunter” has attracted interest purely for its main stars, there is no other reason to see this film. There are no moments in this comedy which will make you laugh out loud, but rather have a bit of a giggle at certain moments. Not the worst film of the year, but not far off.
3/10