91 replies to this topic

[TWoP Barnes]

TiVo says:

After 11 years of preparation, Michael is ready to debut his action movie.

[Latsmile]

Worst. Episode. Ever.

[Samurai]

It was nice to see some callbacks to the good old days...nice to see Jan, Roy, and Karen appear in bit roles. And I can't remember last when Michael Scarn appeared onscreen. Wasn't terribly funny though...the episodes around Christmas were very much old-school in the tradition of seasons 2-3, but this just missed the mark, I felt.

[VAHokies]

Oh my God, was that awful! It makes some of my least favorite Office episodes look like classics.

[glitter5579]

I really liked it and laughed out loud at several points. Toby's head being blown off? Dwight's attempt to turn his character into a robot? Stanley narrating because he can't afford Morgan Freeman? Jim hair? I thought it was a great callback episode. I enjoyed it.

[marketdoctor]

I liked it--but I enjoy "so bad it's good" comedy, and especially "is Dwight a robot?". I thought Michael and Holly's "I love you" in the middle was nice. (I also loved Karen and her "why did you single me out?" line) and the return of Jan.

The hockey game playoff forfeit was a little too far (it would have been darkly funny without going to far if they'd ended, for instance, an undefeated regular season, but for the playoffs? That was far even for Micheal.)

Overall I really enjoyed it; of course YMMV.

[CreedogV]

Maybe I've taken too many film classes, but I found the movie riotously funny just because the writers had to go out of their way to make the film so bad. The pacing was so awful. The way he tried to wedge in so many tropes and unintentional allusions to other films was just fantastic.

Major points for getting actors to resume their old characters. However, I was annoyed that they had Darryl clean-shaven when he's had a mustache until recently. I was hoping to notice that they had matched hairstyles from previous seasons, but I didn't.

[myriadphalanx]

The www.threatlevelmidnight.com website is pretty great. The film's reviews, plus the cast bios. For example, this description of Jim/Goldenface...

Michael Scarn's most evil adversary who goes around blowing up All-Star games in hopes that the trophies will explode and people will turn gold like him.

[Shalamar]

I LOVED it. I haven't laughed that much at, well, anything in a long time.

One nitpick: Pam said that the movie was made "years and years ago", but Andy only became part of the Office-verse a few years ago - so I was surprised to see him. Still, he had some good lines. "Alllll riiight! Now we can watch sports games!"

[sprtpilot]

Ok, that was not funny, not "bad" funny, not clever. not well written, not remotely comprehensible in the Office universe, and not believable that any of you (fans?) of The Office would find it redeemable in any way.

[Madmarsha]

I don't know why but I loved it. I want to see a full length version. Of course, I also want to see Jason Segel's "Dracula Musical". There's no accounting for taste.

[Blaze Domingo]

Ok, that was not funny, not "bad" funny, not clever. not well written, not remotely comprehensible in the Office universe, and not believable that any of you (fans?) of The Office would find it redeemable in any way.

Pretty much. I've enjoyed most of Season 7, but that was pretty terrible.

[babyblackcat]

I actually loved it. It wasn't the funniest episode or anything, but the call back to old characters and the Scarn storyline were great in a fun, nostalgic way, and it was also nice to see Michael grow from thinking it was so important to his life to realizing he had better things, real things, and that the movie was just fun. I'm always a sucker for intentionally bad movies like that too.

The last season or two have been very hit or miss for me, and this kind of took me back to the days when I obsessively loved the show. Plus as we all know Steve is leaving, it was sort of nice tribute to the Michael character.

Edited by babyblackcat, Feb 17, 2011 @ 10:43 PM.

[livserge]

I thought it was funny! Creed as "Cherokee Jack", Jim's over the top Goldenface... oh, and I wanted to actually see the scene of Pam's hostage character getting all Stockholm Syndrome with Jim's Goldenface character. Remember, this would have been when Pam was still with Roy, because he was around, yet they actually filmed a scene with them flirting. I wonder if Roy was in the same room, and if he was being as clueless as ever?

[ordinaryangel]

It was enjoyable fluff, which is exactly what I hoped for. I saw the preview commercials, so I wasn't expecting high art or even anything remotely close to a normal Office episode.

Loved Darryl the President leaning forward so Michael could hit him with the painting. Loved Toby getting his head blown off and Michael saying it was the most expensive shot. I even loved Jim saying that he took the Goldenface part to impress a certain receptionist.

The guy who killed Jan—was that Ryan's dealer friend from NYC? Season 4, I think?

Edited by ordinaryangel, Feb 17, 2011 @ 10:52 PM.

[babyblackcat]

Loved Darryl the President leaning forward so Michael could hit him with the painting

I know! That and Creed as Cherokee Jack made me LOL. The rest of it just made me pleasantly happy.

Yes, that was Ryan's friend from NY, the one Dwight was convinced was a magical elf or hobbit or something.

[nikki8907]

I LOVED this episode! I haven't been able to say that about The Office in a long time. The callbacks were amazing and the movie was so ridiculous it was hilarious. Even just hearing that Jim/Pam(ahem... Goldenface/Hostage) scene slightly awakened the JAM shipper in me.

"I guess I did let him be a robot" was great too.

[ReadIshmael]

It was cute. The callbacks were sweetly nostalgic, and having Michael realize how bad it was but be okay with it spun the ridiculous in a less unbelievable direction.

[amien88]

One nitpick: Pam said that the movie was made "years and years ago", but Andy only became part of the Office-verse a few years ago - so I was surprised to see him. Still, he had some good lines. "Alllll riiight! Now we can watch sports games!"

i think it was filmed over several years, which is why it had both past and recent characters.

[spiceinator]

Basically a gimmick, suitable for a teaser but stretched out for a whole episode. Although any episode that features John Krasinski in black spandex is not without its benefits.

[Chyromaniac]

Cherokee Jack- MSt3K shoutout?

The only real negative I can say about the episode was that the "movie" parts were just a little too well shot for a homemade film that's taken 11 years to complete. That, and Ryan/Oscar are the definitive Samuel L. Chang/Goldenface.

Beyond that, I loved it- episodes like this and Murder are really the only ways we'll ever get holodeck-type episodes on The Office. It was great seeing how everyone put their own twist on their characters, with (for example) Andy going over-the-top theatrical, and Jim working a subtle Dwight prank into the movie. Overall, it was just a fun show to watch, probably because the cast seemed to be having an absolute blast making it.

Edited by Chyromaniac, Feb 18, 2011 @ 12:14 AM.

[JodithGrace]

I really loved it. I loved the continuity that Michael Scott can really skate well, and the fact that Roy was there, even though he didn't have any lines, and all of the callbacks. That terrible dance with the yarn to rhyme with Scarne. And of course the one hostage that got blown up was Toby. But who was the "nurse" in the hospital scene?

The one thing I didn't really get was Holly's reaction. Yes it was an awful movie, but it seems as though she and Michael Scott seem to share a lot of the same sensibilities, and that she would have appreciated it more. I think that if MY boyfriend had made that movie, I would have loved it, as terrible as it was.

I don't know, it was just really fun.

[rspad]

But who was the "nurse" in the hospital scene?

Pam's mom, Helene. That would explain Pam's horrified/disgusted reaction to that scene. :)

[angelmom1]

I thought it was really funny and enjoyed seeing the staff just laughing and having fun watching it. It was so typical Michael and I loved how Jim was being untypical in his role as Goldenface. I did wonder though where was Kelly? It would seem she would be all over a movie role.

My favorite part was Toby getting blown up. For some reason Michael's irrational hatred of Toby is just so funny to me. Probably because at the office I used to work in we had one guy who everyone hated for no apparent reason. I feel sorry thinking about this guy now but it was funny at the time.

[Sefal]

I really startedd laughing when toby's face blew up, followed by he was an animal rapist.

[ZetaBaby]

Rashida Jones doing the Scarn is the most adorable thing I've seen in 2011.

[ordinaryangel]

I did wonder though where was Kelly? It would seem she would be all over a movie role.

Kelly was one of the hostages. I'm guessing the hostage scenes were shot during "Season 1" because Kelly's hair was pulled back (like in Diversity Day—also, it looked like she was wearing an ugly blouse) and Roy was clean shaven.

I also noticed in the scene where Michael goes to talk to Holly outside the conference room, you could hear a Pam/Jim scene in the film. I think the writers were trying to address the continuity of the Pam and Jim relationship, which was nice.

If you go to the Threat Level Midnight site, they have a list of the actors and one of them is Tony Gardner as Jan's piano player. Season 3! The entire movie is going to be on iTunes, but I can't see paying for it when you know it's going to be on the Season 7 dvd (or other sources. Cough.)

Edited by ordinaryangel, Feb 18, 2011 @ 1:22 AM.

[HyeChaps]

Andy, the only one with real acting experience, was best.

[LiberryLady]

I'm guessing the hostage scenes were shot during "Season 1" because Kelly's hair was pulled back (like in Diversity Day—also, it looked like she was wearing an ugly blouse) and Roy was clean shaven.

Nah, the scenes couldn't have been shot during season 1; Pam didn't discover the script until season 2's The Client.

[ordinaryangel]

Ooh, that's right. I just assumed Season 1 because of Kelly's hairdo and demure blouse. I don't think we ever saw her dress like that in Season 2, when she became fun, bubbly Kelly.

Four deleted scenes are on the NBC site. They should have used Clip 4 ("Go HOME!") for the tag instead of the rap.