Tribeca: Jon Hamm Gets a ‘Corner Office’

By Abe Friedtanzer

 

Offices in movies and television are typically represented in a stark and uninteresting way, where joy goes to die and monotony rules each boring day (even in comedies like The Office). That’s certainly the case in Corner Office, a Tribeca entry that casts Jon Hamm as Orson, a new employee who is intent on following a carefully-set schedule that ensures no time for shenanigans and nothing more than a five-minute break each hour for any sort of non-work activity. While Orson is dull and has no ability to read social cues, he too finds his time in the office draining, until he discovers a door to a large and old-fashioned office that no one else seems to know exists…

That introduction might make Corner Office sound like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but it’s nothing that exciting or lavish. When Orson goes through that door, he’s there to get a break from his colleagues so that he can do… more work. It quickly becomes clear that no one else is able to see this mysterious door, and that it may not be real at all. Orson remains equally convinced that it is a prank they are all pulling on him and that it is indeed real, which leads to some predictable tension around the office since, to his colleagues, Orson apparently has a tendency to just stand in the spot where he believes the door to be and stare. 

Corner Office is definitely odd, but it works in part due to Hamm’s role not only as star but also as narrator, conveying his unfiltered and generally unkind thoughts in a very dry and direct way to the audience as he attempts to maximize productivity by cutting out distractions and tediousness. This is an effective send-up of office improvements that are meant to be feats of engineering and future-facing in their cooperative environments, with Orson’s boss (Christopher Heyerdahl) sitting in a tiny glass office in the middle of the room that is easily overcrowded with just a few members of the team and which has absolutely no soundproofing, so private conversations are aired in an extremely audible space.

 

It’s hard not to compare this ominous, darkly funny project with Severance, though the two are very different both in content and tone. This film benefits from a supporting cast that includes Danny Pudi as Orson’s lazy deskmate and an excellent Sarah Gadon as the bubbly receptionist, and Hamm has exactly the right demeanor for this role. Based on the novel of the same name by Jonas Karlsson, its unique style is reminiscent of the short film The New Tenants that won first time feature director Joachim Back an Oscar in 2009. Logic and answers aren’t on full display, but this is a fascinating character study that makes for a very immersive journey. B+

Corner Office makes its world premiere in the Spotlight Narrative section at the 2022 Tribeca Festival.

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