Workplace Satire Corner Office Fails to Think Outside the Box

Devoted worker bee Orson (Jon Hamm) loves corporate America. On day one of his new job at mysterious corporation The Authority, Inc., he is already enamored with the inner workings of the big capitalist machine. This includes, but is not limited to: A drawer full of staples, a timetable that helps him maximize his productivity and, of course, discovering the best place to store printer paper. Soon, office life becomes even more thrilling for Orson when he discovers an uninhabited corner office that is complete with luxurious mahogany surfaces, expensive upholstery and, most importantly, a mysterious property that helps him increase his workday output. The only problem? None of his coworkers seem to be able to see the sacred room.
Directed by Joachim Back and written by Ted Kupper in a script based on Jonas Karlsson’s novel The Room, Corner Office follows Orson as he slips deeper and deeper into obsession, much to the irritation of his coworkers. But if you’re hoping that this is the grounds for an absorbing and thought-provoking corporate mind-bender, you might be better off watching Severance or Black Mirror.
While Corner Office is heavily concerned with satirizing office culture, it doesn’t actually bother to say anything meaningful about it. Yes, it’s dystopian that Orson’s wildest dreams involve a room that helps him work harder. Yes, the fact that we never learn what The Authority, Inc. actually does is a worthy commentary on the mundanity of a nine-to-five. But that cleverness never amounts to anything more than cleverness for cleverness’ sake.
From the moment that Orson sets up shop at his new cubicle, Corner Office feels like 100 minutes of treading water. This has to do, in part, with a dense voiceover that drones on for the film’s entire runtime. It’s laboriously repetitive, with Orson reiterating his obsession with the corner office again and again until he’s blue in the face. It is also overly expositional, despite the plot not churning out much to explain in the first place. From all angles, the voiceover is a perplexing choice. Perhaps it is merely Back’s attempt at adding levity to the film—the narration does sometimes take on the tone of a noir spoof—but the writing is light on humor or sharpness.