The next time you catch Mike Judge’s Office Space on TV
(note: it’s probably on TBS right now), look past the pieces of flair
and the staplers and the Gary Cole—difficult, I know—to see
what really makes it tick: namely, its sense of downright Swiftian
outrage. Extract, the director’s first movie since 2006’s
unfairly maligned Idiocracy, scores on a number of small
fronts—nobody can nail the desperate ambience of a backyard
kegger or muted-pastel break room quite like Judge—but lacks that
core of real, exasperated indignation that gave his previous films such
a charge. Even accounting for a plot that hinges on major testicular
damage, it feels pretty toothless.
Set, for a change, outside of Texas, Judge’s script centers on a
sexually frustrated, retirement-eyed small-business owner (Jason
Bateman, continuing to refine his Arrested Development deadpan
thing) whose life is thrown higgly-piggly when an employee suffers the
aforementioned gonad-related injury while on the job. Gene Simmons
shows up for a cameo as a bloodthirsty lawyer, as does his hair.
Judge has always had a thing for actors, and he outdoes himself
here, with Bateman getting some masterful support from the likes of J.
K. Simmons, Kristen Wiig, and especially Ben Affleck, whose turn as a
dopey bartender further hints at his potential to be a Baldwin-level
character actor. Problems arise with the story, as various plot
developments drift lazily through the air without any real connective
tissue. The shambling, foam-tipped results are far from hard to
watch—Bateman’s approximately 12-stage reaction to a monster bong
hit is probably worth a matinee by itself—but the movie never
quite manages to distinguish itself from, say, a late-season episode of
King of the Hill. Here’s hoping that Judge gets steamed about
something soon.
Actually, Idiocracy was one of the most painfully stupid and unfunny movies ever made.
Unfairly maligned? Idiocracy sucked.
I liked Idiocracy enough. It wasn’t as clever as it should have been, or even as clever as it thought it was, but compared to a lot of the tripe that passes for comedy in the contemporary cinema . . .
To damn it with faint praise, I’d say it’s the best movie starring a former SNL cast member since the ’80s.
_Idiocracy_ was awesome. It’s got what plants crave.
i liked idiocrocy. (not the best movie of all time but good)
and btw, wich baldwin?
I concur #3.
I think it’s hilarious that all the conversation so far has been about Idiocracy. I also enjoyed it (despite the lead role of Luke Wilson, whom I revile), but it’s a movie that can’t be taken too seriously or it falls apart. The movie’s PotUS has a middle name–out of several, you’ll remember–of Mountain Dew, for chrissake.
As for Extract, I’m hoping that this will appeal to some and mean a resurgence after it’s released to DVD, and many will appreciate it more on subsequent viewings, like Office Space.
Does anyone really know what electrolytes are?
I was curious as to the movie, as I feel the trailers haven’t done it any favors.
I love almost everything Bateman is in, even if he does play the same character repeatedly (farthest reach so far is rapey-dad in Juno).
Idiocracy was funny on the surface, as the overall plot points really are painfully funny to the average, overly-intellectual denizen of a major city who hates the south (and the midwest, etc.), but the actual minute to minute comedy was pretty poor.
I can’t excuse paying >$10 on seeing it though. It’ll make it to video, and I’d love to see it then.
I like it.
Judge really needs to bring back Beavis and Butthead in some form…its a classic that is not getting the credit and attention that it deserves.
Think of electrolytes as those ionic substances that might conduct electricity through water, as opposed to water without electrolytes, or nonionic substances measured on an “electrolytes” panel such as creatinine, urea, and glucose.