You know you are in for something different from the always smooth actor Jon Hamm in Corner Office. From the first frame in which he is sporting the bushiest seventies porn-star moustache, a daggy hairstyle that could rival anything from Javier Bardem and a pair of aviator glasses so large that you could land an aeroplane on them, polished is not the word that springs to mind. This antiquated look is only the start.
This satirical look at the soul-crushing nature of corporate business and the way it turns humans into automatons is mostly focused through the eyes, ears and thoughts of Orson (Hamm). He is a man like few you’ve ever met in the cinematic universe. Filled to the brim with odd eccentricities and social awkwardness, Orson exists in a world almost entirely of his own making.
His creative thinking is mired in a morass of reality and internal dialogue and obscures the truth of almost everything you witness on screen. The story being told almost exclusively in voice-over helps to tilt the vision even further. The digs are subtle and director Joachim Back succeeds in keeping you off-kilter while he envelopes you in his dystopia and almost monochromatic world.
Almost too subtle for most viewers, Corner Office delivers its critique in such an understated way, that it will require you to become an active participant. You will need to find your own thoughts on the subject, a task made easier by the pace. Its mix of the banal and thought-provoking enjoy such gaps as to always give you the chance to make up your own mind. It’s challenging but worth the effort.
Corner Office is available now on DVD and Digital platforms, including Apple TV, Prime Video and Google Play.
Rob Hudson
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