CORNER OFFICE***

Joachim Back's directorial debut is a dark comedy that satirises the pre-pandemic office worker hell that is the open-plan floorplate staffed with irritating coworkers in cubicles.  Adapted from Swedish novelist Jonas Karlsson’s The Room, the movie has a low-key dystopian vibe with a deadpan voiceover from Mad Men's John Hamm, playing our protagonist Orson. Dressed as a schlubby middle-aged secret Machiavel, Orson holds his colleagues in contempt while treating them with a scrupulously minimum-required-amount of politeness.  "I just wanna do my job" he protests. "What do you think we're doing?", Danny Pudi's colleague responds. "I can't say with any certainty."  The condescension is cathartic for the viewer.  Orson's work-life is transformed when he discovers a secret office that is luxurious in its furnishings, but most of all in its silence and distance from other humans. Orson schemes to take possession of it, a task made all the harder by the fact that his colleagues won't acknowledge its existence. Others might be destroyed by this Kafkaesque denial of his truth, but Orson prevails. Is his thick-skin, and belief in the room, psychopathic? Or is he the last bastion of common sense in an insane world? 

I loved everything about this film - the acting, cinematography, production design, dry with - other than its length. It feels like it might have been better made as an hour-long episode of Black Mirror. The conceit is just too dry for a feature length movie. 

CORNER OFFICE has a running time of 101 minutes and is rated PG-13. It played Tribeca and Raindance 2023 and opened in the USA earlier this month.

A ROYAL NIGHT OUT

This year sees the anniversary or many a military event, not least the Battle of Waterloo which I am covering in real time with my @relivewaterloo twitter account. One of those anniversaries is the 70th anniversary of VE or Victory in Europe day. Many of us have grown up with iconic images of that night - the crowds partying in Trafalgar Square and the Mall.  Set against that backdrop, this movie - A ROYAL NIGHT OUT - is a very mild and respectful depiction of what might have happened if Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret had been given permission to celebrate VE Day among the masses.  The movie sees them beg permission of their parents, then hit the Ritz where Princess Margaret (true to later reform) manages to give her chaperones the slip and have a fine old time everywhere from the Ritz to a Soho brothel to the Chelsea Barracks. Meanwhile, her earnest elder sister, Princess Elizabeth tries to track her down with the reluctant help of working class airman Jack.

THE NUT JOB

It is probably unhealthy that so much of our animated children's movie come from Pixar. It leads us to certain expectations of what makes a great film. We want cuddly cuteness our kids can relate to, enough wit for the adults, a positive learning message and something that tugs a little on the heartstrings. These movies are produced to such a high quality and are so good on a number of metrics that any independent features have a tough job to impress us. Which doesn't mean they can't. But THE NUT JOB isn't that movie.  

This is a Canadian, South Korean production which shows in the irritating Psy-loaded end-credit.  The handsome CGI animation doesn't push the boundaries of how one depicts animals and I found the orchestral score over-insistent.   But the problem is really an over-complicated story - too many factions of animals, an over-complicated motivation for a heist. There are park squirrels and city animals and a shortage of nuts for winter and then something about breaking into a nut shop next to a bank and substituting the contents of the vault..... I'm actually getting bored now trying to relate it back to you.  But even this could have been overcome had it not been for the lack of any real charisma or wit from the voice cast. We all know Will Arnett is funny, so why isn't he funny as the rebellious purple squirrel hero, Surly? In fact, if anyone steals the show it's Brendan Fraser as the grey squirrel Grayson, who has an over-inflated opinion of his own heroism. Meanwhile, Katherine Heigl is utterly forgettable as the love interest, Annie the red squirrel. 

Overall, there's nothing to spark the imagination or move the heart in this film. It's well enough drawn but I doubt anyone would watch it a second time.  One for the kids on DVD and that's being generous.

THE NUT JOB has a running time of 85 minutes and is rated PG. The movie is on global release.