Starring Demi Moore, CORPORATE ANIMALS (2019) is a comedy about a corporate retreat gone wrong when a rock slide traps a CEO and the leaders of her company in a cave. The film combines grisly slapstick with an attempt at satire about the corporate world, and despite some of the cast putting their heart into it, its on-the-nose gags and weak satire were stale on delivery for me.
It was great to see Demo Moore make a comeback, though she plays the character as shrill and a bit wooden. The “satire” mostly consists of the office workers squabbling with each other before predictably uniting against the CEO, who is portrayed as a jerk from day one instead of slowly being revealed. Without good context, the grisly slapstick doesn’t resonate. On the plus side, some of the performances are good, with the actors finding humor in their delivery if not the script.
The film might have been interesting if it became THE OFFICE meets LORD OF THE FLIES, with the workers factionalizing with office gossip and politics around limited resources and the CEO’s favor. The point being they can’t get over their office personas and their rivalries even when trapped in a cave. At the end, they unite against the manipulative CEO, realizing all of it doesn’t matter. I don’t know. Something. As it is, the script feels phoned in around an otherwise interesting premise.
Overall, can’t recommend this one. For really good grisly comedies about the office, try MAHEM, BELKO EXPERIMENT, and my favorite, SORRY TO DISTURB YOU.
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