Office Christmas Party

I've always been a fan of the Christmas stoner comedy. Last year's The Night Before was a step above in terms of finding the original concept. With this one, I had high hopes. We've all been to corporate Christmas parties that are one step away from becoming actually enjoyable events and Office Christmas Party takes that to the extreme. However, it shoots itself in the foot by becoming too overcrowded with storylines that aren't at all funny.

The Chicago branch of tech company Zenotek has failed to show any growth in the last quarter, so acting CEO Carol Vanstone (Jennifer Aniston) has threatened to cut forty percent in order to make the branch profitable. She also wants to cancel the annual Christmas party as she considers it an unnecessary use of corporate funds. Her brother Clay (TJ Miller) doesn't want any of his workers to lose their jobs, so he enlists his Chief Technical Officer Josh (Jason Bateman) and his head of tech Tracey (Olivia Munn) to court businessman Walter Davis (Courtney B. Vance) into investing in the company. It turns out the only way to get him to do this is by throwing the best Christmas party ever.

As with all comedy movies, it really comes down to how well the actors are able to perform the jokes. That's the one thing that Office Christmas Party really has going for it. All of the major players have had a career built on performing comedy in one medium or another so there is no one dropping the ball. I've been really impressed with diversity that Jennifer Aniston has been showing in her comedic roles lately. They haven't just been the same thing over and over and her Grinch-esque Carol is a very fun character. I find TJ Miller can sometimes overshadow his costars with his over the top performances, but this time he shares the wealth, being the giving time of the year and all. Kate McKinnon's performance was wonderful as always and she is always able to find particular traits for her characters that are just bizarre and perfect. Despite Jason Bateman once again playing Jason Bateman, I am so comfortable with his character at this stage. He and Olivia Munn have great chemistry too.

The problem with this flick though is that it is way too crowded. Every character that is introduced is given too much character. There's no "here's this accountant character", instead we have to be shown that he has a weird baby fetish (Randall Park does at least try and make it funny). The characters also just end up as stereotypes of people you find in the office and that wears a bit thin quickly. There are too many plot strands as well. Instead of just having the main plot, there's also Jillian Bell's pimp character who is trying to steal everyone's money and something about wifi being accessed everywhere. While they all tie in at the end, the third part of the movie is just distracting and kind of boring.

This is a hard one. If you're a fan of movies like this, as I am, you'll watch it and think this better than you expected. If you wanted a light Christmas comedy, it's probably not for you. Office Christmas Party has a strange intense energy. It's laid on heavy with the jokes and (surprising) destruction with a good mix of hopeful and cynical characters.

The Night Before

Who knew that Kanye West's "Runaway" is actually the perfect Christmas song? Well in a scene straight out of Big, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen and Anthony Mackie prove just that. It's actually a scene that sets the fun tone for the remainder of the film. And it doesn't diminish for the entire length of the film.

On Christmas Eve 2001, Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) buries his parents after they were killed in a hit and run. His friends Isaac (Seth Rogen) and Chris (Anthony Mackie) decide to get him drunk and help him focus on the present. This is a tradition that they have kept ever since. Fast forward fourteen years and they have all changed. Ethan is a struggling musician with commitment issues, Isaac is about to have his first child with his wife Betsy (Jillian Bell) and Chris is now a famous football player. Because of all the changes that have happened, the guys decide that this will be the last night in which they do this.

What I love about this movie is that the plot motivation is very simple. The three guys are trying to get to the holy grail of Christmas parties: the Nutcracker Ball. That's the ultimate goal of the movie, but the journey along the way is the fun part. Ethan is trying to get back with his girlfriend Diana (Lizzy Kaplan), Chris is trying to get some weed for his football teammates, but is thwarted by the Christmas Grinch (Ilana Glazer) and Isaac just trips out on every drug under the sun while he tries to recover his phone from Diana's friend Sarah (Mindy Kaling). Tying them all together is the mysterious drug dealer Mr Green (Michael Shannon).

Mr Green acts as the emotional core of this movie, but he is also one of the many references to other classic Christmas movies. He is the substitute of the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future which he delivers through three different strains of weed. Ilana Glazer's character references The Grinch, Die Hard and Home Alone. The large majority of jokes in this film go towards Isaac's confusion about Christianity as he is Jewish, but there are some like Sarah's overt sexuality and James Franco's ambiguous sexuality (he plays himself) and confusion over his dick pics.

Not all the performances in this film are really worthy. Seth Rogen is adept at playing his character by now, as are Lizzy Caplan and Mindy Kaling. I feel as though both Anthony Mackie and JGL dropped the ball, as they both felt quite hollow to me, which is disappointing for leading actors. It was great to watch the serious dramatic actor Michael Shannon have fun in this movie, although he doesn't drop his seriousness at all, instead bringing the film a touch of class. It's great to see Tracy Morgan back in action as Santa and cameos by Randall Park, James Franco and Miley Cyrus lift the fun.

Seth Rogen keeps up his annual comedy releases with The Night Before and doesn't disappoint. Like I said with Love The Coopers, this is a great movie for those who love Christmas, although a lot more silly, less depressing and a lot less traditional.

Trainwreck

Judd Apatow's last few movies have been getting a tiny bit more serious than his earlier films. Trainwreck (based on an autobiographical script by comedienne Amy Schumer) straddles a fine line between being a serious and silly comedy.

Amy (Schumer) is taught a valuable lesson by her father Gordon (Colin Quinn) when she is younger: the idea that monogamy is outdated and doesn't work. Flash forward twenty years and Amy still follows this rule, sleeping with as many guys as possible, despite dating gym-junkie Steve (John Cena). Amy works for men's magazine S'nuff and is assigned the job of writing an article about sports doctor Aaron Connors (Bill Hader), with whom she has her first serious relationship. Confused by her feelings, she looks to her younger sister Kim (Brie Larson) for guidance.

Schumer definitely brings her own brand of comedy to the table here. Her TV series Inside Amy Schumer questions the gender pigeonholing that takes place in society and in a way Trainwreck follows suit, although taking a more autobiographical tone and mixing that with Apatow's mass appeal filmmaking. The movie does make a decent attempt to ask why can't women go and sleep with as many guys as they want in the same way men do. However, this attempt only makes up the first third of the film. The remainder seeps into typical rom-com territory, with Amy eventually succumbing to the archetypical female in a romantic comedy. In fact the entire second half of the film is pretty by the book in that regard.

Overall however, the film is pretty funny. Schumer isn't as crass as Melissa McCarthy but finds the right balance of dirty jokes, as well as jokes about her ineptitude with sports (sports being a major part of this movie). The film also has one of the funniest funeral scenes I have seen outside of Death at a Funeral. The film also handles its more tender moments with grace.

The performances are a bit of a mixed bag. Schumer does an okay job at taking the lead role, but the best parts for me were Colin Quinn and basketball player LeBron James. Quinn brings his usual acerbic dry delivery to the role, making Amy's father Gordon a memorable character. James plays against how you think he would be in real life, super protective of his friend Aaron's feelings and a bit of a sensitive soul. British actress Tilda Swinton is extremely unrecognisable as Amy's boss Dianna, all fake tan and hair done up. It's actually quite a remarkable thing to see if you are a fan of her work. Hader isn't at all trying in this film, instead letting Schumer take the limelight. Brie Larson has also done better elsewhere.

There are some great smaller supporting roles and cameos. Mike Birbiglia plays Amy's brother in law who annoys her with his extremely submissive personality. Randall Park hilariously plays one of Amy's colleagues and Ezra Miller is also funny as the office intern. There are some great cameos by Matthew Broderick, as well as Daniel Radcliffe and Marisa Tomei who both appear in a film within a film called The Dogwalker.

Although it could have been better in terms of its structure, Amy Schumer's first foray into feature film writing is pretty funny and enjoyable to watch.