The Vault: Head Office (1985)

Don't fall for it, Jack, [don't fall] for the lie we keep telling ourselves. We do the dirty stuff to get the power. It'll give us all the good things we really want. Then we get the power, we can't even remember what goddamn thing what it was we wanted it for in the first place.

Head Office is oddly timely for a film that was made 25 years ago. Or it would be oddly timely if the same bunch of assholes who screwed up everything in the 80s hadn't gotten nostalgic and decided to try it all over again, but worse.

The film highlights all that is wrong with big business: the control of elected officials; the blind ambition; the backstabbing; and the blatant disregard for their workforce, both at home and abroad. We've all heard it all before, but it's an interesting angle to see in a fluff rom-com.

As in The Hudsucker Proxy, the problems with corporate culture are shown from the perspective of a newcomer who is rapidly being promoted through the ranks. While Head Office offers more biting criticism, and both films take a farcical view of the affair, in Head Office it's done less artfully.

It's certainly an entertaining film and is worth a watch if you can find it.

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