Head Office

source: Head Office

When this film first came on cable in the 80's, I was still young and it it wasn't that funny to me. Now, some 18 years later, the first half hour of this film had me in stitches. The rest of the film though..is still pretty much uneven and dull. First of all, if you can't identify with Big American Corporate and how those companies actually work -- this film will do nothing for you from the start. If you can identify, then after the first half hour you'll loose interest. When I first saw this film, I didn't have a job and was just getting out of college. Now, I can identify with all the players that are introduced in that first half hour for I can say: I've worked at those kinds of companies. The backbiting, the moving an Executive out of an office ("I don't give a damn how loyal to the company he is, he's out!"), early stock sales from insider information, the "please don't tell anyone my problem", the two-faced over achieving women in the workplace, the jockying for parking spots, the high blood pressure head of PR/Marketing, its all here..including the "prayer breakfast meeting"(let me just say the company I was at that reflected the prayer breakfast meetings has a rodent as a Brand!). I can't help but laugh about it now, but when you're going through it it isn't funny. This film takes a good insider poke at it all in this half hour. Sadly, that's all there is in this film and it dies a fast death from there. The rest of the film after that wanders into a "slacker Senator's son tries to make good on the environment and gets the gal" type of thing and that doesn't work for me. For all out there who are just entering the Corporate workforce from that BA or MBA, the first half hour will give you pearls of wisdom you need to carry as you work "for the next 40 years of your life". Favorite pearls? Here's one that always makes me laugh: Executive: "Are you Executive material?" New Guy: "Do you mean I am on the ball? Yes." Executive: "No, I mean, can you kiss ass?" And: Executive to New Guy: "If you want to survive, never directly make a decision." Other than that, you might want to skip this film. So for me, the first 1/2 hour of this film is a 6 on a scale of ten, the rest a 2.

THIS MOVIE IS HILARIOUS!!! Eddie Albert puts in a genius performance as a corporate tycoon- head of INC. the company that he built with these "balls of steel." From his ordering the sale of High-Tech fighters to primitive warring tribes (so they can be rolled downhill at one another LOL) to reviewing individual overdue phone bills (D-I-S-C-O-N- N-E-C-T) Albert's portrayal is awesome. The cameos in this film are numerous and hilarious- from Don King, to Brian Doyle Murray, to Danny DeVito- all are great. Ron Frazier as Bob Nixon is incredible, and Wallace Shawn is unforgettable as well. This is, IMHO, Richard Masur's best work as well. There are a lot of great gags and this remains one of my favorite comedies. I've read the other reviews here- and I don't get it. Maybe others just didn't go for this brand of comedy, but I think it's terrific fun. Also, I think the original title of this film was "INC."

Head Office is the only film I know that truly deserves mention when discussing both the best and the worst of comedies. It contains a first half hour that is classic, a perfect combination of intelligent bite and ridiculous slapstick. The jokes barely leave you time to recover before the next one hits. The amazing comic quality of Jack's first day at the office can only be topped by the movie's amazing fall into an unwatchable steaming heap. It may be the most amazing plunge ever taken by a movie. For that reason it is a must see. Rent it. Get something to snack on from the fridge during the gratuitous-sex-joke opening. Make sure you're back for the graduation sequence and that you have a stable place to set your drink and enjoy the laughs. When Jane Seymour's character gives her speech, a momentary soul search in her new office, you have a decision to make. You can turn it off, which is my suggestion, or watch a Hollywood story plunge some great comic writing off a cliff.

Very underrated. 'Airplane' at the office. Was this really a comedy? One gets the impression many corporate types watched themselves get raked over the coals and either didn't get it or wondered if it was a how-to flick. Yes, it was a comedy. But the corporations were getting raked too, deservedly. Issel (Reinhold) climbs and climbs the ladder. Mostly it's because other executives commit suicide due to the stress. Or get hung out to dry as a sacrifice. The 80's never looked so dirty. Well done!

A very odd movie, this. By no means a great, or more than mildly entertaining, movie In other words a Judd H. trademark flick. HOWEVER, many of the scenes have haunted me since first seeing it upon its debut, never to see it again since. Certain scenes and lines are incredible funny, or perverse: especially Eddie Albert's president. The board meetings are all incredible funny. Albert's reaction at a board meeting to a anti-government bombing of "Mr. Chicken" franchises results in a speech that is completely absurd, and yet it differs very little from the speeches given by real business leaders and politicians who link what is now called "globalization" with the exercise of human rights. Devito IS also good, but in a side story. And Don King spouts wonderful nonsense, ignored by everyone, in a cameo made during the brief period he, and his hairstyle, were seen as charmingly wacky. It is worth seeing, should you run across it and do not expect too much.

This movie is not very well known, but it's a gem. If you have worked in a large corporate environment, you are sure to see something here you recognize. This is sort of a pre-technology age Dilbert (because of the whole office world thing). It is the story of a young man ,Jack, just out of Business School. His father is a senator and the Corporation (INC is their name) is trying to get government backing for work they are doing in South America. They hire Jack as a way to control the senator. Jack goes up the corporate ladder quickly and he watches others fall, yet he does nothing to deserve his advancement. A lot of funny stuff about corporate politics. Great people in this little movie.

About 20 years ago I ran into Eddie Albert at "Disneyworld", and asked him about one of the greatest "black comedies" of all time, "Head Office". What I wanted to know was, with a great cast, and a terrific script, how come the film sank into obscurity? His answer was that the studio thought it hit a little too close to home, lampooning big business. What makes "Head Office" so special is that the lack of communication between top executives and the people who are actually on the firing line, is all true. "Never make a decision, just approve other peoples decisions" I love this movie, and if you enjoy "dark comedy" this is one of the best. - MERK

I was sitting around the other day looking for a movie and found this one. Having nothing better to do, I watched it without any hopes of great comedy entertainment. I was wrong. I laughed all the way through. Why? Because it so much resembled the Fortune 500 Company I used to work for! Kids if you're smart you'll avoid big business. Its wasteful, evil and the way practiced, brings out the worst in human nature. Watch this movie, for in its satirical way it shows everything wrong with American business practices in big corporate America. When the executives were lunching and actually gave some credence to the flippant remark that Issel made "why not just kill him", it struck home with me, because I believe that at least some corporate executives would not stop at murder to accomplish an end--usually a personal one and not even one to further their companies. To me this satire works oh too well!

As the other reviewer says, this is definitely a gem of a movie! If you work in a 15000+ employee corporation, you will see what we mean. Danny De Vito is excellent as a manager who has been forced to jump to his early fall from an office window; Don Novello as the car driver with a taste for Julio Iglessias; Judge Rheinhold playing Jack Issel is great as the son of a congressman; Rick Moranis as a PR head is also great especially with the delivery of the line "I love this business" as he is checking his blood pressure; as is Jane Seymour, offering the line, after making love to a colleague: 'I wouldn't be much if a screwed my way to the bottom." Great movie all round. I specially liked the line "we make everything from toilet paper to nuclear power plants." You will certainly enjoy this one!