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Extract
2009 - Mike Judge
The latest workplace comedy from Mike Judge (Office Space, "King of the Hill") is pleasant but doesn't ever quite click and turn into a classic. This time Judge looks a bit at the monotony of American labor from the side of ownership. Jason Bateman stars as Joel, the owner of a small flavoring extract company. His office overlooks the warehouse floor where his minorly disgruntled employees grumble about their various jobs. It's a company he founded when he invented a chemical formula for extract out of college, but that passion and desire has left him and he sees the plant as mostly just a boring part of his day. His marriage has also become frustrating boredom since he and his wife (Kristen Wiig) don't seem connected anymore, especially not sexually.
A series of recent events has shaken up his world a bit, what with a big conglomerate sniffing around with an offer to buy him out and send him to an early retirement, but an on the job accident and possibility of a law suit involving one of his employees, played by the always entertaining Clifton Collins Jr., putting that in jeopardy. There's also a new employee who has caught his eye, a beautiful but deceptive small-time grifter (Mila Kunis) who has him fantasizing about infidelity. That mix of circumstance capped off by a night of liquor and a horse tranquilizer provided by his slacker bartender friend (Ben Affleck) leads him to a bad decision that ultimately puts his marriage and business in danger of disappearing. It's time for Joel to figure out what he truly values.
As with Office Space, Judge's style is very low-key. It's also relatively sweet. Bateman is as appealing as ever in everyman mode. His Joel is a good man who has lost his way a bit not out of malice or greed but simply because of the monotony of the everyday grind. The supporting cast around him is strong, including J.K. Simmons as his plant manager and David Koechner as possibly the most annoying next door neighbor imaginable. The trailer and TV spots may lead you to believe it's more of a romantic comedy with a burgeoning fling between Bateman and Kunis, but to its credit it never slips into that well-worn and more obvious territory. What does happen doesn't amount to a heck of a lot plot-wise, but Judge's tone and love of his characters carries it through without over-the-top incident, either comic or dramatic. It plays a bit with some satire, but never commits to it with dark enough comedy to really drive it in that direction and the couple scenes with Kiss guitarist Gene Simmons as a sleazy lawyer are all pretty flat and the least-satisfying element in the film.
It's mostly nice and very watchable, but it also doesn't give enough to really love it, and certainly not anything there to hate it. I don't suspect this one is due for the kind of cult success the beloved Office Space enjoyed, even if it took the DVD release for the masses of fans to eventually discover it. Extract is diverting but ultimately not much more.
GRADE: C+
Extract
2009 - Mike Judge
The latest workplace comedy from Mike Judge (Office Space, "King of the Hill") is pleasant but doesn't ever quite click and turn into a classic. This time Judge looks a bit at the monotony of American labor from the side of ownership. Jason Bateman stars as Joel, the owner of a small flavoring extract company. His office overlooks the warehouse floor where his minorly disgruntled employees grumble about their various jobs. It's a company he founded when he invented a chemical formula for extract out of college, but that passion and desire has left him and he sees the plant as mostly just a boring part of his day. His marriage has also become frustrating boredom since he and his wife (Kristen Wiig) don't seem connected anymore, especially not sexually.
A series of recent events has shaken up his world a bit, what with a big conglomerate sniffing around with an offer to buy him out and send him to an early retirement, but an on the job accident and possibility of a law suit involving one of his employees, played by the always entertaining Clifton Collins Jr., putting that in jeopardy. There's also a new employee who has caught his eye, a beautiful but deceptive small-time grifter (Mila Kunis) who has him fantasizing about infidelity. That mix of circumstance capped off by a night of liquor and a horse tranquilizer provided by his slacker bartender friend (Ben Affleck) leads him to a bad decision that ultimately puts his marriage and business in danger of disappearing. It's time for Joel to figure out what he truly values.
As with Office Space, Judge's style is very low-key. It's also relatively sweet. Bateman is as appealing as ever in everyman mode. His Joel is a good man who has lost his way a bit not out of malice or greed but simply because of the monotony of the everyday grind. The supporting cast around him is strong, including J.K. Simmons as his plant manager and David Koechner as possibly the most annoying next door neighbor imaginable. The trailer and TV spots may lead you to believe it's more of a romantic comedy with a burgeoning fling between Bateman and Kunis, but to its credit it never slips into that well-worn and more obvious territory. What does happen doesn't amount to a heck of a lot plot-wise, but Judge's tone and love of his characters carries it through without over-the-top incident, either comic or dramatic. It plays a bit with some satire, but never commits to it with dark enough comedy to really drive it in that direction and the couple scenes with Kiss guitarist Gene Simmons as a sleazy lawyer are all pretty flat and the least-satisfying element in the film.
It's mostly nice and very watchable, but it also doesn't give enough to really love it, and certainly not anything there to hate it. I don't suspect this one is due for the kind of cult success the beloved Office Space enjoyed, even if it took the DVD release for the masses of fans to eventually discover it. Extract is diverting but ultimately not much more.
GRADE: C+