Head Office (1985)

Lazy, womanizing Jack gets employed at the NYC HQ of the multinational conglomerate, INC. Crazy chaos, promotions, firings, suicides etc. seem to be the way of the day.

Director:

Ken Finkleman

Writer:

Ken Finkleman

Stars:

Judge Reinhold, Eddie Albert, Lori-Nan Engler

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Judge Reinhold	...	Jack Issel
Lori-Nan Engler	...	Rachael Helmes
Eddie Albert	...	Pete Helmes
Merritt Butrick	...	John Hudson
Ron Frazier	...	Bob Nixon
Richard Masur	...	Max Landsberger
Rick Moranis	...	Howard Gross
Don Novello	...	Sal
Michael O'Donoghue	...	Scott Dantley
Jane Seymour	...	Jane Caldwell
Wallace Shawn	...	Mike Hoover
Bruce Wagner	...	Al Kennedy
Danny DeVito	...	Frank Stedman
Ron James	...	Mark Rabinovich
John Kapelos	...	General Sepulveda

Storyline

Upon graduation from college with a business degree, John Issel is promptly hired by Helmes's company I.N.C. At INC, the one who gets ahead, does it by kissing ass, or over someone else's dead body. John keeps getting promotions, but cant figure out why. Actually management doesn't care about him, they hope that having hired him, his father, Senator Issel, will vote the way they like.

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Plot Keywords:

satirical | satire | senator | u.s. senator | bribe | 

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Taglines:

The Higher You Go, The Weirder It Gets!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

In Frank Stedman's first scene, the picture of the newspaper is a shot of Danny DeVito from the TV show Taxi.

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Goofs

When Jack is first shown his new office in Complaints, the name plate by his door appears and disappears between shots.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Pete Helmes: Hi. My name is Pete Helmes. 30 years ago, I started a small company called INC Bearing and Tool, and with these balls of steel I built INC International. Now, we produce over 10,000 products, from a 50-megaton nuclear warhead to a creamer, nuttier peanut butter and a new, quieter, artificial heart. Every day at INC we're developing products that will improve your life, like Permalax, an all-new laxative implant, that relieves irregularity for up to 25 years with a one-step ...

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Alternate Versions

The TV network version has various additional scenes which include:

• Jack walking across a basketball court and shooting a basket with some player friends of his while on his way to his first day at INC.
• Additional bit of dialog between Helms and General Toliver in the helicopter.
• A scene of Jack buying a Rolling Stones magazine at a corner news stand and the first introduction Robert Hoover and Al Kennedy bickering about Helms.
• Additional dialog between Jack and Jane in her office telling him that "information is power."
• Another bit of dialog where Kennedy discuses INC's plans for a proxy fight over a company called West Oil during the board meeting in which Helms disagrees.
• Helms detailing INC's strengths in another bit while discussing an unpaid phone bill over a client.
• Kennedy telling Jane about him quitting INC and his plan for asking Helms to join a Los Angeles office during the board meeting scene with the little German-speaking man.
• Additional scene of Jack first arriving at Helms' house and a frantic Kennedy trying to talk to Helms during his morning jog around his back garden about an Los Angeles job and being set upon by a guard dog as well as treading across a reflecting pond to keep up with him.

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Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: Crackerjack 2: Hostage Train (2017)

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Soundtracks

MILITARY MADNESS
Performed, written and produced by Alan Howarth

User Reviews

Pretty Funny Overall, some scenes hilarious..loses steam near end

Always liked this movie for some of the hilarious stuff it contained with the sharp, biting satire about corporate life and the treachery and ultra selfishness that world embraces and encourages by its very nature. Fun to see Rick Moranis in this after his SCTV years and I enjoy the typically deadpan Judge Reinhold comedy style in this movie. LMAO at some scenes in this movie when it first came out but I think the humor today is harder to enjoy by the current batch of folks who never experienced the '80s as teens or adults. Thus, the comedy might be somewhat dated by today's standards, but I still enjoy this movie even now. Overall, I still think this movie is better than most reviews that give it a paltry 3-4 stars out of 10. IMHO it deserves an 8...

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 January 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Head Office

Filming Locations:

Sears Tower - 233 S. Wacker Drive, Downtown, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,937,934, 5 January 1986

Gross USA:

$3,393,807

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,393,807

Company Credits

Production Co:

Guber-Peters Company, Home Box Office (HBO), Silver Screen Partners

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1