Head Office (1985)

Director:

Ken Finkleman

Writer:

Ken Finkleman (writer)

Release Date:

3 January 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

An Outrageous Comedy About Making It Big In Big Business

Plot:

Upon graduation from college with a business degree, John Issel is promptly hired by Helmes's company I.N.C...

Plot Keywords:

Heart Attack | Big Business | Senator | Suicide

Cast

Eddie Albert	...	Pete Helmes (INC chairman)
Merritt Butrick	...	John Hudson
George Coe	...	Senator Issel
Danny DeVito	...	Frank Stedman
Lori-Nan Engler	...	Rachael Helmes
Ron Frazier	...	Bob Nixon (INC head VP)
Ron James	...	Mark Rabinovich
John Kapelos	...	General Sepulveda
Don King	...	Himself
Richard Masur	...	Max Landsberger
Rick Moranis	...	Howard Gross
Brian Doyle-Murray	...	Colonel Tolliver (as Brian Doyle Murray)
Don Novello	...	Sal
Michael O'Donoghue	...	Scott Dantley (INC president)
Judge Reinhold	...	Jack Issel

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Guber-Peters Company, The

Quotes:

Bob Nixon: We have a very *nasty* terrorist problem in San Marcos, don't we, Senator?
Sen. Issel: Mm-hmm.
Scott Dantley: If the army had the guns, we just might be able to stop the killing.
Pete Helmes: It's a bitch of a problem, isn't it, Jack?
Jack Issel: Well, actually, I've been reading that it's the *army* that's doing most of the killing.
Bob Nixon: Ha.
Sen. Issel: Jack, the army has been busting its ass to eliminate the murder and the torture and the human rights violations down there.
Scott Dantley: Left-wing terrorists fire-bombed our 26th Mr. Chicken franchise just yesterday.
Pete Helmes: The Marxists are denying the people of Latin America their right to eat Mr. Chicken. And, they're denying Mr. Chicken his human right to franchise and make a profit.
Scott Dantley: Well, I sure as hell don't want some made-in-Moscow Mr. Cabbage Roll shoved down my throat against my will.
[...]

Movie Connections:

References "Those Amazing Animals" (1980)

Soundtrack:

FAR SIDE OF CRAZY

Too close to the truth!

I was sitting around the other day looking for a movie and found this one. Having nothing better to do, I watched it without any hopes of great comedy entertainment. I was wrong. I laughed all the way through. Why? Because it so much resembled the Fortune 500 Company I used to work for! Kids if you're smart you'll avoid big business. Its wasteful, evil and the way practiced, brings out the worst in human nature. Watch this movie, for in its satirical way it shows everything wrong with American business practices in big corporate America. When the executives were lunching and actually gave some credence to the flippant remark that Issel made "why not just kill him", it struck home with me, because I believe that at least some corporate executives would not stop at murder to accomplish an end--usually a personal one and not even one to further their companies. To me this satire works oh too well!