No Photocopier Stomping Here

Ten years later, people everywhere are still quoting the sharp dialogue and witty one-liners of Mike Judge’s first feature length film, Office Space, but the only thing people in Ithaca may remember about their trip to the theater on Saturday to watch Judge’s newest flick, Extract, was how loud and excessive the two people in the middle row laughed throughout the entire film. Sure the movie had its funny moments, but none deserving more than a chuckle. Certainly not the hysterical laughter the middle row was providing them. No, Extract won’t go down in history as one of the worst movies ever, it will just become one of those “forgotten” movies that get subconsciously passed over in Blockbuster.
The story is based on the immensely stressful life of Joel (Jason Bateman), the owner of an extract company, as he faces difficulties in the office and at home. The plot progressively builds around supporting characters that are interesting and mildly humorous, but never really seem to develop.
Sporting a cast with names such as Ben Affleck, Mila Kunis and Kristen Wiig, there are obviously high expectations for the supporting characters in this film; however, unlike the motley crew of Office Space (Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, and David Herman) these talented personalities never get the opportunity to reach their full potential. Affleck plays Joel’s drug-dealing, bartending best friend, Dean, who provides the support Joel needs to overcome this difficult time in his life —specifically in the form of drugs, alcohol and male prostitutes. Dean supplies the comic relief in Joel’s depressing life as well as the horse tranquilizers that inevitably lead to decisions that an otherwise coherent Joel would never have made.
On the same hand, the beautiful and hilarious Kunis only exploits one of her two infamous traits in this role as Cindy, the outrageously attractive new girl who is mysterious but remains somewhat one-dimensional throughout the film. Cindy enters the office with ulterior motives, but her devious plans are masked by her looks as she weasels her way around the office supplying the temptation Joel needs to contemplate cheating on his wife, Suzie (Wiig). Wiig does an excellent job of portraying the “bored” wife of a successful businessman as the couple’s passionless marriage is quite apparent.
Although each character is standing right on the verge of greatness, no one really ever jumps. It will take viewers the entire movie to come to the realization that Kunis’ character is not going to blossom into anything above, well … dull.
Returning to the office setting, Extract is a twist on Office Space, this time placing the protagonist role in the hands of the boss (Bateman). As the film unravels it becomes clear that it really isn’t that much more glamorous from the upstairs viewpoint of the office.
Building the company from the ground up, Joel is passionate about the complex world of extract: vanilla, almond, cinnamon, even cookie dough. He has invested all of his time into the company, neglecting the relationship with his wife Suzie. Simultaneously falling apart with Joel’s marriage is his company. An unfortunate accident at the plant leaves a vital employee without his “manhood,” and threatening a lawsuit that could bankrupt the entire business.
Naturally, when faced with the smallest amount of temptation at work (Cindy), Joel runs to right hand man Dean to help him justify his unfaithful notions. Pulling through without hesitation, the hairy and unkempt Dean convinces Joel that it only makes sense to hire a male prostitute to seduce his wife, which would in turn allow any relations with Cindy to be guilt-free. As one would expect, the plan does not work quite as well as expected and the meat and potatoes of the plot involves Joel’s poor efforts to cope with the mess he has enlarged. Obviously, consequences of major decisions are not considered while dealing with the effects of horse tranquilizers.
The movie isn’t a terrible journey through Joel’s problems, just not a memorable one. Bateman is loveable as always, but despite a web of relationships, love, betrayal and … extract, there lacks a big payoff at the end of this film; there’s no explosion. Extract is worth seeing at least once, but don’t get your hopes up.
Ten years later, people everywhere are still quoting the sharp dialogue and witty one-liners of Mike Judge’s first feature length film, Office Space, but the only thing people in Ithaca may remember about their trip to the theater on Saturday to watch Judge’s newest flick, Extract, was how loud and excessive the two people in the middle row laughed throughout the entire film. Sure the movie had its funny moments, but none deserving more than a chuckle. Certainly not the hysterical laughter the middle row was providing them. No, Extract won’t go down in history as one of the worst movies ever, it will just become one of those “forgotten” movies that get subconsciously passed over in Blockbuster.
The story is based on the immensely stressful life of Joel (Jason Bateman), the owner of an extract company, as he faces difficulties in the office and at home. The plot progressively builds around supporting characters that are interesting and mildly humorous, but never really seem to develop.
Sporting a cast with names such as Ben Affleck, Mila Kunis and Kristen Wiig, there are obviously high expectations for the supporting characters in this film; however, unlike the motley crew of Office Space (Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, and David Herman) these talented personalities never get the opportunity to reach their full potential. Affleck plays Joel’s drug-dealing, bartending best friend, Dean, who provides the support Joel needs to overcome this difficult time in his life — specifically in the form of drugs, alcohol and male prostitutes. Dean supplies the comic relief in Joel’s depressing life as well as the horse tranquilizers that inevitably lead to decisions that an otherwise coherent Joel would never have made.
On the same hand, the beautiful and hilarious Kunis only exploits one of her two infamous traits in this role as Cindy, the outrageously attractive new girl who is mysterious but remains somewhat one-dimensional throughout the film. Cindy enters the office with ulterior motives, but her devious plans are masked by her looks as she weasels her way around the office supplying the temptation Joel needs to contemplate cheating on his wife, Suzie (Wiig). Wiig does an excellent job of portraying the “bored” wife of a successful businessman as the couple’s passionless marriage is quite apparent.
Although each character is standing right on the verge of greatness, no one really ever jumps. It will take viewers the entire movie to come to the realization that Kunis’ character is not going to blossom into anything above, well … dull.
Returning to the office setting, Extract is a twist on Office Space, this time placing the protagonist role in the hands of the boss (Bateman). As the film unravels it becomes clear that it really isn’t that much more glamorous from the upstairs viewpoint of the office.
Building the company from the ground up, Joel is passionate about the complex world of extract: vanilla, almond, cinnamon, even cookie dough. He has invested all of his time into the company, neglecting the relationship with his wife Suzie. Simultaneously falling apart with Joel’s marriage is his company. An unfortunate accident at the plant leaves a vital employee without his “manhood,” and threatening a lawsuit that could bankrupt the entire business.
Naturally, when faced with the smallest amount of temptation at work (Cindy), Joel runs to right hand man Dean to help him justify his unfaithful notions. Pulling through without hesitation, the hairy and unkempt Dean convinces Joel that it only makes sense to hire a male prostitute to seduce his wife, which would in turn allow any relations with Cindy to be guilt-free. As one would expect, the plan does not work quite as well as expected and the meat and potatoes of the plot involves Joel’s poor efforts to cope with the mess he has enlarged. Obviously, consequences of major decisions are not considered while dealing with the effects of horse tranquilizers.
The movie isn’t a terrible journey through Joel’s problems, just not a memorable one. Bateman is lovable as always, but despite a web of relationships, love, betrayal and … extract, there lacks a big payoff at the end of this film; there’s no explosion. Extract is worth seeing at least once, but don’t get your hopes up.