Office Christmas Party (**)

Office Christmas Party is a dumb movie that will blend into obscurity within a few months. It's a story that we don't expect much from and only seek out to deliver some much-needed humor in a season when movies are dreadfully serious and dramatic. I will admit that I laughed at several moments throughout the movie. The sad part is that each funny part was already mentioned in the trailer. What a bore.

Set in Chicago, the movie is about a failing firm led by a silly boss named Clay (TJ Miller) and an even-sillier CEO named Carol Vanstone (Jennifer Aniston). With business failing and the threats of shutdown imminent in the new year, Vanstone says that they can keep their job only if they manage to close a deal and get the business of Walter Davis (Courtney B Vance). If he says yes, they are safe. If not, they are done for. After a first meeting goes sour, the office team comes up with the next-best scenario: asking the man if he likes to party.

So begins the festivities, with thousands of pounds of ice and gallons of liquor delivered to the office high rise in Chicago's Loop. Josh Parker (the stoic Jason Bateman) helps organize the event all the while coming to terms with his recent divorce and loss of assets in the process. He has a thing for his assisstant Tracey (Olivia Munn) and that helps to fuel a plot in between scenes of eggnog chugging, dance sequences, and the threat of a prostitute and her pimp only looking to be paid.

Kate McKinnon is the highlight of the movie, playing an HR Manager with silly sweaters and a minivan covered in bird poop. Outside of her moments on screen, the movie flows through the expected ups and downs, has a high-speed chase finale, and ends with the company staying in business (can you believe it?!). Jennifer Aniston reprises the role she had in 'Horrible Bosses' playing the straight-man in a crowd of goofballs trying to one-up each other. There are some funny lines and some accurate depictions of coworkers and their odd interactions (Vanessa Bayer, another SNL cast member, has some hilarious scenes where she tries to make out with a coworker with a baby fetish).

The movie isn't one that necessarily fell short of the mark, although I would argue that this is a movie that was ruined by a trailer that left nothing to mystery. Watch the trailer a couple times and enjoy the chuckles you get from it. I promise you that spending $12 on a movie ticket won't add to the festivities.