Writer: Jonathan Sullivan
Starring: Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Mila Kunis, Ben Affleck
Writer: Mike Judge
Director: Mike Judge
Writer: Mike Judge
Director: Mike Judge
The Plot
Source: Yahoo Movies
Joel is one step away from selling his flavor extract factory and retiring to easy street when a freak workplace accident sets in motion a series of disasters that put his business and personal life in jeopardy.
Joel is one step away from selling his flavor extract factory and retiring to easy street when a freak workplace accident sets in motion a series of disasters that put his business and personal life in jeopardy.
The Review
Mike Judge is one of the biggest purveyors of animation in America. With such TV hits as Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill, he has put his definitive mark on pop culture. His live action work, however, has not bore the same fruits. Although eventually a giant cult hit, Office Space underperformed at the box office and Idiocracy was mired in post-production hell and ended up going straight to DVD.
With his new film Extract, comparisons to Office Space are inevitable. Both are workplace comedies that focus on the stupidity of humanity. Both feature a best friend character with crazy facial hair and low moral standards. However, the two films feel very different from each other. While Office Space had a more mainstream-y and pronounced comedy, Extract is more dry and a little bit harder to grasp. It is a funny movie, but not laugh out loud; more of a smirk than anything. The film just feels...weird. I can't put a grasp on it, and I spent twenty minutes after the end credits trying to figure out if I liked it or not, which is not really a desirable trait in a film.
Bateman plays a loser Michael Bluth-like character, and flashes of the way he delivered lines in Arrested Development shine through. However, he isn't pushing any boundaries or leaving his comfort zone. Kristen Wiig, the breakout SNL star, has no real point. She doesn't really do anything funny, and she's mostly in the background. Ben Affleck plays Bateman's best friend and is one of the funniest parts of the film. He is the zany comic relief, a pill popping bartender, and he seems to really be enjoying himself playing someone off-kilter. As a closet Affleck fan, I was glad to see him in this. Mila Kunis is...Mila Kunis. I could've done without her, and she does not factor in as hugely as the movie posters make her out to be.
The best part of the film, however, is Dustin Milligan, who plays a young jiggalo named Brad Chavez, hired to seduce Wiig's character to see if she'll cheat. Brad is an utterly brain dead pretty boy and I found myself looking forward to his parts. His comedic timing and dolt-ness were the best part of the movie hands down.
Extract is a love it or hate it movie, undoubtedly going to have a cult following, which seems to be a Mike Judge staple. I, for one, think it is worth a watch in theaters if you like his previous films. If not, rent it and give it a shot regardless, at least for Milligan. Unfortunately, this will not be the film that catapults Judge into film stardom.
With his new film Extract, comparisons to Office Space are inevitable. Both are workplace comedies that focus on the stupidity of humanity. Both feature a best friend character with crazy facial hair and low moral standards. However, the two films feel very different from each other. While Office Space had a more mainstream-y and pronounced comedy, Extract is more dry and a little bit harder to grasp. It is a funny movie, but not laugh out loud; more of a smirk than anything. The film just feels...weird. I can't put a grasp on it, and I spent twenty minutes after the end credits trying to figure out if I liked it or not, which is not really a desirable trait in a film.
Bateman plays a loser Michael Bluth-like character, and flashes of the way he delivered lines in Arrested Development shine through. However, he isn't pushing any boundaries or leaving his comfort zone. Kristen Wiig, the breakout SNL star, has no real point. She doesn't really do anything funny, and she's mostly in the background. Ben Affleck plays Bateman's best friend and is one of the funniest parts of the film. He is the zany comic relief, a pill popping bartender, and he seems to really be enjoying himself playing someone off-kilter. As a closet Affleck fan, I was glad to see him in this. Mila Kunis is...Mila Kunis. I could've done without her, and she does not factor in as hugely as the movie posters make her out to be.
The best part of the film, however, is Dustin Milligan, who plays a young jiggalo named Brad Chavez, hired to seduce Wiig's character to see if she'll cheat. Brad is an utterly brain dead pretty boy and I found myself looking forward to his parts. His comedic timing and dolt-ness were the best part of the movie hands down.
Extract is a love it or hate it movie, undoubtedly going to have a cult following, which seems to be a Mike Judge staple. I, for one, think it is worth a watch in theaters if you like his previous films. If not, rent it and give it a shot regardless, at least for Milligan. Unfortunately, this will not be the film that catapults Judge into film stardom.