Whatever my reservations about Corner Office, I’m glad there’s still space in the vast Hollywood machine for a movie this small and strange to be made and attract talent like John Hamm. 

Corner Office is an adaptation of Jonas Karlsson’s novella, “The Room”, which I’ve not read (though I was intrigued enough to buy a trilogy of his novellas, including “The Room”). 

We follow Orson (John Hamm), a meticulous, awkward individual who starts a job at a company with the foreboding, enigmatic title: “The Authority Inc”. From the outset, it’s clear that Orson does not fit in. He finds the other workers lazy, vacuous or disorganised, particularly Rakesh (Danny Pudi). In turn, Orson’s colleagues have little love for him. They find him distant and weird, repulsed by his superiority complex and belief he’s better than them and their boss (played gloriously by Christopher Heyerdahl). Then, one day, walking back from the toilet, Orson notices a door. It piques his curiosity. He opens the door and finds a room, an office, plush and sumptuous, all leather and mahogany, a zen-like place that Orson keeps returning to. But why, he wonders, can no one else see the office? Have his co-workers banded together to play a cruel trick on him?

My issue with Corner Office is that beyond the initial injection of surrealism, there’s little else to the film. We get a vibrant, glorious bit of dance choreography about two-thirds of the way through, but aside from that, it’s all one note. Aside from Heyerdahl, who nails his role as the officious but unexpectedly kind boss (who is treated like shit by Orson), every character, including Orson, is one note. True, Orson’s exposure to the room changes him; he’s more productive in the office. But Orson qua his personality, remains the same awkward, overly fussy bloke he was when the film started.

The only dash of colour is Alyssa, played by Sarah Gordon. Every scene she is in with Orson is lovely. But there’s not enough of her to go around; ultimately, the film’s pernicious dullness infects her.

Also, what is the film about? Is it a critique of faceless, dehumanising corporations? Or is it a portrait of a man suffering a mental breakdown? I suppose it could be both. But neither theme is developed beyond the most surface of treatments.

Corner Office might be a faithful adaptation. But as a film, I never felt it got out of second gear, which is a shame because I want more movies like this. Just better.