It takes a lot for a movie to get me laughing out loud—and laughing hard. This movie has what it takes. Even though the cast was promising (Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, T.J. Miller, and SNL favorites Kate McKinnon and Vanessa Bayer, to name a few), my expectations were fairly low. It very easily could have devolved into a comedy where the only funny scene was the preview clip. It didn’t. The basic idea: hard-hitting Carol Vanstone (Aniston) takes her role of interim CEO of the family business very seriously and threatens to close her brother’s branch if Clay (played by improv genius Miller) doesn’t up his numbers immediately. His grand idea? The greatest office Christmas party of all time to land a potential client and save the branch. Much of the credit for my doubled-over-laughing belongs to the ridiculously stereotypical HR manager Mary (McKinnon), who represses her wild side to keep everyone else’s in check. Aniston and Miller have great chemistry as a brother and sister duo still fighting childhood battles, now on a much larger scale. Even the cameos are hilarious. There is a little of the slapstick, physical comedy for those who appreciate it, but most of the laughs come from the stellar cast, who improvised some of the clever script as they went along.
Should You See It? If you can put up with a little stupidity for a lot of funny, yes.
Viewed at Wehrenberg Theatres Des Peres 14 Cine