Movie Review: Office Christmas Party (2016)

Synopsis: Clay Vanstone dreams of running his branch of a technology company the same way his dad used to, including holding an annual holiday party. His sister, Carol, the acting CEO, has other plans, however, including cancelling the party and laying off 40 percent of his employees. The only chance he has of turning things around is landing a large client by inviting the client to the party being held against Carol's wishes. The epic party, however, quickly gets out of hand.

Who's in it? The movie stars Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, Jennifer Aniston, T. J. Miller and Courtney B. Vance.


Review: I had another movie in mind for last night but wasn't able to find it right away, so I decided on Office Christmas Party instead. This is a movie that has been out for several years, but I had never seen it before. After watching it, I can honestly say I didn't regret the decision.

At first, I wondered if a movie that was solely about a holiday bash would get old fast. However, there were quite a few storylines that added to it, whether it was how crazy the client (Vance) got after accidentally inhaling cocaine or the prostitute that caused more problems than expected. This kept the movie from being anywhere near as predictable as it could have been.

Seeing Aniston as a villain, Carol, is always a nice touch. I think the best part of it was while she came off as uncaring and clearly was making some decisions because of sibling rivalry with Clay (Miller), I don't think she could be described as fully evil. She was, after all, in charge of the entire company and couldn't play favorites.

The end of the movie was a bit farfetched, especially some of the stuff the characters survived without getting injured or arrested. However, that only served to make the movie entertaining and fit the overall theme. At minimum, it kept us on the edge of our seats.

Final Opinion: Some scenes are a bit raunchy, but the overall movie manages to be funny and entertaining because of some great jokes and memorable characters.

My Grade: A


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Here are some reviews of similar movies:

Movie Review: Love Actually (2003)

Movie Review: A Christmas Carol (1938)

Movie Review: Noel Next Door (2022)

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