Movie review: Office Christmas Party

Will Speck and Josh Gordon have been working together since receiving an Oscar nomination for their short film Culture in 1997. They've brought us the parody Blades of Glory, dramedy The Switch, starringJustin Bateman and Jennifer Aniston, and the interactive drama The Power Inside.

With this ensemble they veer away from Oscar contention, instead focusing on raunchy and irreverent comedy. The original script for Office Christmas Party was written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, the duo behind The Hangover series, which should give you an idea of what to expect.

Jason Bateman (right) stars in the film, Office Christmas Party.

At first, I was relieved at not having to sit through another Christmas film based around a family gathering or Santa's misadventures. Instead, this story revolves around a Chicago IT company desperate to clinch a deal soput on an outrageously loose Christmas party to impress a client. Rather than sentimental Christmas messaging we're presented with strippers, drugs, water coolers filled with spirits, and nudity.

But it turns out this film is about family after all; not so much the family members at the centre of the story, brother and sister Clay and Carol Vanstone, but the misfits who work at Clay's branch of the family business, who make up one large dysfunctional family.

TJ Miller (Silicon Valley) is perfectly cast as Clay, the lovable party boy who has no idea how to run a company but feels he should keep his father's legacy alive. Jennifer Aniston plays his tormenting sister and boss, and makes merry with her nasty Horrible Bosses-like role.

Jennifer Aniston and T.J. Miller in a scene from the film, Office Christmas Party. Photo / AP

The Switch co-star Bateman is Clay's on-to-it sidekick, who keeps the company ticking over, while the star-studded cast also includes Olivia Munn, as the programming genius behind the company, and Kate McKinnon (looking more and more like Elizabeth Banks) as the company's overly zealous human resources manager.

The lines are snappy, and there's even an effort to provide characters with backstories, but once the party starts the call is made to ramp up the fun, and the next thing you know the marketing department is nude in a large toilet cubicleand someone is 3D-printing their private parts.

A scene from the film, Office Christmas Party.

There are a few laughs to be had at these more gratuitous scenes, but they're not really needed and don't fit as smoothly as you'd expect. The funniest jokes are actually about Kia cars - this is a film that uses product placement well, rather than body parts.

Office Christmas Party veers into the ridiculous, but with a cast of likeable and quirky characters the wackiness works, without dazzling. It's even manages a hint of feel-good.

Verdict: A mix of naughty and nice to get you into the Christmas spirit.

Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, TJ Miller
Director: Josh Gordon, Will Speck
Running Time: 105 mins
Rating: R16 (Violence, offensive language, drug use, sexual material)