The Office: Season One
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Movie Reviews of The Office: Season One
Movie Review: Hilariously and frighteningly true-to-life
Summary: 5 Stars
Any denizen of any corporate office in America will relate to the many funny and wince inducing moments in this series. It does a masterful job of creating a generic version of pretty much any typical corporate office, large or small. After spending many years in such an atmosphere, I often felt like someone must have been trailing me around at work and making note of the many absurd and scary moments of my typical office day.
The character that really steals the series is Michael. Though he's broadly drawn and says and does things that one would think would lead to an immediate firing, he is certainly representative of the bane of every corporate employees' existence: the clueless and oftentimes callous boss. Steve Carrell is masterful in this role and does a great job of portraying a man who is so out of touch with how his employees think and feel about him that it's painful to watch at times. Sadly, it seems that many a corporate boss is every bit as out of touch as Michael and that's what really makes the character speak to me.
The romantic tension between Pam and Jim is also very enjoyable and also emblematic of your typical office atmosphere. What corporate employee hasn't watched and gossiped about the romantic goings on of his or her coworkers? The two have a very believable chemistry and the subtle little dances they do around one another seem very sincere. Their dialog is very natural and funny, though it doesn't always produce positive results.
The timeliness of this series is really remarkable. I was especially struck by the recurring theme of downsizing rumors, particularly because I'm working for a corporation that will be doing a good deal of downsizing in the near future. I could really relate with the Dunder Mifflin employees as they asked Michael to tell them whether or not they were going to be out of a job while he did his best to evade the question. I thought it was the perfect characterization of the corporation versus the employee. The bottom line is that the business is there to make money and that this often renders the employee dispensible. These people have lives and families to support but they're not given a straight answer because the corporation is more interested in seeing who can impress them the most. They are treated as little more than trained dogs.
I also could very much relate to the episode in which the new health care plan selection takes place. What company doesn't trumpet its benefits, even when they are as abysmal as the plans that Dwight wants to choose. And what corporation hasn't tried to worm its way around confidentiality rules? I vividly remember the day a former boss of mine tried to wiggle some confidential information out of me regarding which medications I'd been prescribed for a chronic condition from which I suffer.
This is really a well done series and the six episodes on this disk only left me longing for more. I can hardly wait until I can get my hands on season 2.
Movie Review: From across the pond
Summary: 5 Stars
Some of the most boring, and downright ignorant, refrains I hear from my fellow Brits deride the American sense of humour. "they just don't get it", "they have no sense of irony", etc etc, even while we laugh our asses off at the simpsons. Rarely have such opinions been shouted more loudly and indignantly as when the news surfaced that The Office, not only the funniest but also one of the most soulful BBC shows ever, would get a "remake" for American audiences. I myself must admit to finding it impossible to imagine the drama transposed to a different culture, so fully realised and "definitive" were the plot and characters in the original.
In retrospect it seems we were so involved in the vernacular of British office life (perfectly captured), and the development of the individuals that we were perhaps blind to the universal themes and types that are portrayed, and which could easily find resonance and relevance in a different culture. As it is, full marks to the writers and director for having the confidence to take these themes and characters without seeking to ape everything about the BBC version, thus allowing the show to retain both integrity and identity. As others have mentioned, the weakest episode in this first series is undoubtedly the first, where the debt to the BBC version is most obvious and the product most laboured.
Comparison is inevitable, but where the US show loses out slightly (ultimately, despite his best efforts,the Carrell can never match up to Brent of the BBC version) it gains in other areas (this allows his co-actors to retain their share of show; in the second UK series in particular Brent overshadows everything else about the programme, while other aspects stagnate slightly, before a triumph of quality TV in the concluding Christmas specials.)
If there is one piece of advice that the writers of this excellent interpretation ("remake" is to harsh a word) should take from the British series is to keep it short. One of the reasons why The Office will forever keep a place in the hearts of British audiences comparable to Fawlty Towers or This Life is that Gervais exerted his artistic integrity and refused the offers of extending it into an ad-infinitum sitcom of the Friends variety, where novelty can only be retained by constructing scenarios of decreasing plausibility. Gervais was correct in perceiving that the reason why audiences kept coming back was the underlying plot-spine that was the frustrated romance of, in the British case, Tim and Dawn. Once this was resolved the series had reached its conclusion.
Movie Review: Best Sitcom on TV, hands down.
Summary: 5 Stars
This DVD, though only 6 episodes, is completely worth it, loaded with deleted scenes and commentary, this will keep you occupied.
The popularity of this show didn't truly pick up until Carrells acting career propelled with 40 Year Old Virgin, which was right after the first season.
People started to catch on to it and has gotten a much bigger following ever since. The first season is definitely great, a little slow to start (but that's expected since they have to introduce the characters to the audience) adjusting to the style and comedy of the show (no laugh tracks, ackward silences) and the show has vastly improved in its 2nd season.
Every single supporting character on the show is incredibly well done. I've really come to love all the characters on the show and is funny because you can pick people at your office that match the characters perfectly (at least i can anyways).
A lot of people need some time adjusting to Carrells character because he is a jerk, idiotic, obnoxious, and definitely not PC. It's a whole lot to take in for most people, but I love how extreme the character is, and I'm a jerk my self so it all works out, even so, you still can't help but love him.
My favorite character (who very often steals the spotlight from carrell) is Dwight Schrute. Everytime he's in a scene i'm laughing. The little things he say have me crying. I loved the episode in the 2nd season where he thinks it's friday but it's actually thursday, and Jim and Pam are egging him on to believe it's friday, and they bring up the apprentice and asks who got fired, and they ask him "you didn't see it?" he says "NO! I was out getting drunk with my laser tag team!" When I was in high school I worked at an arcade that had laser tag, and teams with nothing but dwight schrutes would come in, that hit the spot right there.
You have to love Pam, the conservatively dressed but still sexy receptionist is always playfull flirting with Jim, and assisting him with pranks on Dwight. I am convinced they won't hook up until the very last episode of the series, which is probably better that way.
Anyways, with the smash success of the 2nd season (still in progress) that has me in high anticipation of the dvd release, I can't wait for a 3rd season, as the show keeps evolving and becoming funnier with every episode. I haven't watched a sitcom in years, and this will be the only one I watch until they *gulp* cancel it.
Movie Review: An incredibly funny sitcom
Summary: 5 Stars
In a way, I'm coming into the American version of the Office the best way: by having not seen a single episode of the British version. A lot of people prefer the original and many cringed when this version was announced but me, as usual completely unbeknownest and missing the buzz, never watched either. But I have the lucky position of walking into this fresh and as it stands, I end up watching one of the more funnier shows on TV.
Shot documentary-style, the show centers on the office workers of Dunder-Mifflin, a company that sells paper. The boss is Michael Scott, a well-meaning but seriously off man who wholeheartedly believes a terrible joke will get a huge laugh. His assistant is Dwight Shrute, a deadpan nerd who is just unaware of, practically everything and nothing at the same time almost. But the main fixtures tend to be Jim the salesman and Pam the receptionist.
One of the most successful parts about this show is that each character adds something to the whole rather than just 2 to 3 great parts and everybody else is just kind of meh. Even characters who don't get a lot of leg room such as deadpan creepiness Kevin or the relatable real-world persona of Oscar. While this isn't a knock to the actor, but I rarely will laugh at Dwight since sometimes it's not really hilarious what he's saying but just at how gullible he is. And I wasn't a big fan of the character Kelly, the fast-talking girl who blabs on and on. While the actor nails that type of character, it's still an annoying persona to have.
But arguably everyone's favorite aspect of the show is the should-be relationship between Jim and Pam. One thing that always bugged me in TV romances was it's almost like you have 2 attractive leads and that should be reason enough to get them together. But these 2 get along so well and know how to entertain the other that you wonder why they didn't hook up earlier (her fiance is Roy, an office worker in shipping who can say, with absolute serious "toss the ball my way or you're sleeping in the car" when she's the starter of a basketball game). In many ways they remind me of Mulder and Scully of the X-Files who originally started out as partners/friends who would do anything for the other and became lovers later.
While it's got some flaws (it feels too short), it's still a case of a comedy show that doesn't need over-the-top comedic situations to get a laugh.
Movie Review: Forget The Detractors: This is "The Office"
Summary: 5 Stars
For every positive review of the Americanized "Office", it seems that there are five negative ones, often based on how this one is not the British version. A lot of the time, though, these people miss the point: if it were exactly like the Brit show, this "Office" would be worthy of such derision.
However, there's enough to like about "The Office" to build up a small but devoted fan base (much like the critical darling "Arrested Development" on Fox). For one thing, Steve Carell might not be Ricky Gervais, but he shouldn't have to be: Michael Scott is the perfect "boss who doesn't get it", a corporate boob who is despised on both sides of the power structure (those below him and above him in stature). The supporting cast makes the show, however: the Jim and Pam romantic angle is the heart of the show, while Dwight's paranoia gets the better of him on almost every episode. Ryan the intern is more of a background character than his prominent place in the credits may suggest, but B.J. Novak happens to be a writer on the show. I guess he could write himself into it as much (or as little) as he desires.
If it were just that, the show might fail. But the whole atmosphere of workplace mundane nature is pitch perfect. The documentary feel (a condition that is both acknowledged and unknown at times) gets you on the floor with Dunder-Mifflin as Michael and his cohorts awkwardly make their way through the day. Jim lusts after Pam, but does little in the way of getting her away from Roy. Dwight tries to assert an authority he doesn't have. The various characters in the office have their own personalities, which come out to great comedic effect over the course of the season.
All in all, "The Office" Version USA is more than okay. It's definitely one of the better shows on television this year, and thankfully NBC is bringing it back. I'm sure the British original is brilliant in its own right, but I like this "Office" just fine. For anyone who's ever worked a job that they hate, you'll feel right at home here. And you'll laugh more out of recognition than anything else.