Basic and tired. Rob Lowe isn’t known for his work in musicals, Dana Carvey isn’t known for his work in horror, and Demi Moore isn’t known for her work in comedy. And there is probably a good reason for that. There is nothing wrong with a performer wanting to stretch into new directions and expand the public’s perception of them. But wanting it and making it happen are two different things. But with so much of this “comedy” dependent on her performance, and to watch her drop the ball so spectacularly, she should perhaps consider staying in her lane.
Set during a corporate retreat, Corporate Animals follows an insufferable CEO Lucy (played by Demi Moore) forcing her team and guide into a perilous spelunking expedition, and things go south quickly. Their guide dies (not a spoiler it’s in the trailer), they have limited resources, and no hope of rescue. Faced with such dire circumstances, their only option is to air all their grievances and resort to cannibalism.
“…follows an insufferable CEO Lucy forcing her team and guide into a perilous spelunking expedition…”
Right off the bat, I should say I don’t mind a good cannibalism movie. Eating Raoul, Ravenous, We are what we are, Cannibal the musical are all particular favorites of mine. So my dislike of this particular film doesn’t stem from the subject matter. But, with so much that went wrong in Corporate Animals, it’s difficult to pin down exactly what the issue is, but I’m going to try.
So we come back to Demi Moore. The big tent pole star of the film and (more than likely) the reason they got any funding at all. She is painfully unfunny. And maybe it is unfair to single her out since most of the jokes in Corporate Animals don’t land. Maybe it’s unfair to single her out since the rest of the cast has so much more experience with comedy than she does. But her character is so central to the story that it lives and dies with her performance. The irony is that had she failed any harder then perhaps her performance could have fallen into camp. But we are not so lucky.
"…only option is to air all their grievances and resort to cannibalism."
Johnny Carson, Rich Little, Jack Benny, Jonathan Winters the Great, and oh wonderful Jackie Gleason, onstage these and so many so many more like them didn’t need to be nasty. I always found the less the content the more they threw filth into the movie. True Talent and great movies like ocean 11 cetera, certainly portray the reality the difference between great and garbage. The Sound of Music. Fiddler on the Roof, magnificent movies compared to this piece of garbage with foul mouth dirty nasty people. How is that funny.? Are the millennials so compromised they don’t know the difference between pornography and poetry. I can’t see that this filth is the lowest form of amusement. It’s so disgusting to see civilization unwind and it is first exposed by the storytellers and what the people listen to as their entertainment.