"THE OFFICE: SEASON FIVE"
Blu-ray Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: ****1/2 (out of 5 stars)
BLURAY EXPERIENCE: ***** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Steve Carell as MICHAEL SCOTT Rainn Wilson as DWIGHT SCHRUTE John Krasinski as JIM HALPERT Jenna Fischer as PAM BEESLY B.J. Novak as RYAN HOWWARD Leslie David Baker as STANLEY HUDSON Brian Baumgartner as KEVIN MALONE Angela Kinsey as ANGELA MARTIN Phyllis Smith as PHYLLIS LAPIN Kate Flannery as MEREDITH PALMER Mindy Kalin as KELLY KAPPOOR Creed Bratton as CREED BRATTON Oscar Nunez as OSCAR MARTINEZ Ed Helms as ANDY BERNARD Not Rated Studio: NBC/Universal Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
The fifth season of the hit NBC show “The Office” takes the characters – and the show itself – through some changes. The season opens with HR minion Holly (Amy Ryan) meddling in the office, and meddling with the romantic feelings of Michael (Steve Carell). Andy (Ed Helms) and Angela (Angela Kinsey) are still planning their wedding while Angela is sleeping with Dwight (Rainn Wilson). Jim (John Krasinski) is trying to keep sane while Pam (Jenna Fischer) is going to school in New York.
This season sees a return to some more serious stories rather than the wacky comedy, although there is plenty of slapstick thrown in. Idris Elba guest stars as a corporate mucky muck who needs to straighten out the Scranton branch. Michael forges out to start his own paper company, which shakes things up at the office.
WHAT I LIKED
It has been the better part of a decade since I have worked in a corporate office environment, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t find the humor in material from this show and the occasional “Dilbert” comic strip.
I wasn’t a big fan of the show in the first season, but revisiting it in season five, I find it hilarious. The interaction with the characters is the key, keeping realistic tensions in unrealistic situations. What makes “The Office” so relateable is the fact that I’ve know these various personality types in the jobs that I have held. Maybe they aren’t as extreme as Dwight Schrute or Meredith Palmer, but I have known people like them (and I’m not naming names, am I David and Joyce?).
It’s hard to say which character is my favorite. I could go with the easy answer and say Dwight, but that’s like saying Curly is your favorite Stooge. While Rainn Wilson gives the most bombastic performance, there’s brilliant work by Steve Carell as the loveable yet incompetent Michael Scott and even Ed Helms as the brilliantly clueless Andy.
The characters work as a mosaic, and while few would be able to support his or her own show, they hand off the comedy to each other.
The genius structure of a show like “The Office’ is that it is simultaneously warm and cold. The characters are all likeable (or most are, at least) in their own ways, but you really wouldn’t want to work with them. In this sense, they do make the family that Michael insists they are.
The guests stars do a fine job, in particular Amy Ryan as Holly Flax. Idris Elba comes in as the straight man, and he does bring the show down a bit. But you need him as the foil to Steve Carell just as you need John Krasinski as the foil for Rainn Wilson.
Oh, and there’s something wonderful about that theme song... I just can’t help but smile when I hear it.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
There’s not a lot to dislike about “The Office” once you settle into the free structure of the series. My only real complaint about this season is that it does take a more serious, realistic turn in the middle. The producers say that’s to ground the show again, but I personally love the wacky element. Fortunately, this serious tone didn’t last too long and didn’t bring down the show.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
More often than not, when a series hits its fifth season on DVD or Blu-ray, it has been tapped out in terms of bonus materials. Fortunately, that seems to be turning around in the marketplace as this fall’s fifth season of TV-on-DVD have had better selections in the extras department.
However, “The Office: Season Five” outdoes itself. Not only will you find commentaries on most of the episodes in the series, there is close to four hours of deleted scenes to enjoy. Unlike some series, the deleted scenes here are definitely worth watching because of how funny they are, and they are also considered canon for the show.
Additional features includes a gag reel, a special “100 Episodes, 100 Moments” spot which picks 100 funny bits from the 100 episodes of the series. There are also hilarious promos that were done for football and Olympics promotions. Rounding out the featurettes is a 40-minute Q&A session with the cast and crew of “The Office,” courtesy of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Along with the deleted scenes, the funniest special features come in the form of webisodes that give Kevin and Oscar their own storylines, each story running about the length of a broadcast episode.
Exclusive Blu-ray features include access to BD-Live and MyScenes, as well as the One-Liner Soundboard which allows the viewer to string together quotes from their favorite characters and share them via BD-Live.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Fans of “The Office” and anyone frustrated in their own workplace.
