OFFICE SPACE
A film review by Christopher Null
Copyright 1999 Christopher Null
filmcritic.com
Give BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD creator Mike Judge enough rope, and he may just hang himself. In his first live-action outing, Judge does a fair job at making sick jokes about corporate America, he just doesn't seem to make enough of them, ultimately leaving OFFICE SPACE a bit flat.
Straight from SWINGERS, Ron Livingston makes a surprisingly good Everyman as Peter, so sick of his job ("In a week, I'd say I do 15 minutes of real work.") that he goes to a hypnotherapist for relaxation treatment. Of course (and the trailer doesn't tell you this), the therapist dies while Peter is under, leaving him in an ultra-relaxed state without a care in the world. (What's particularly funny is that OFFICE SPACE was shot in high-tech ghetto north of my old hometown of Austin, Texas, where the "go-getter" attitude is severely frowned-upon.)
Anyway, after the therapy, Peter has a whole new outlook on work. But oddly, Peter soon goes from apathetic to outright seditious, all while imminent downsizing is about to take place. This culminates in a silly subplot lifted from SUPERMAN III (they say so right in the movie!) about stealing fractions of pennies from the company.
That Peter gets a new girl (Aniston) in the bargain is foregone conclusion. That plenty of apropos, out-of-place wackiness is included, courtesy of Judge, is also a given.
Now I'm not a killjoy. I've had lots of jobs that are very much like Initech's idiocracy. Sadly, I'm afraid that too many people are going to genuinely take Judge's advice and try to get promoted by sleeping in and being lazy. While the underlying message is sound (Don't take work too seriously: IT'S JUST A JOB!), Judge might have been wise to preface the film with the same message given on episodes of B&B: "Don't try this at home."
RATING: ***
|------------------------------|
\ ***** Perfection \
\ **** Good, memorable film \
\ *** Average, hits and misses \
\ ** Sub-par on many levels \
\ * Unquestionably awful \
|------------------------------|
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Mike Judge Producer: Daniel Rappaport, Michael Rotenberg Writer: Mike Judge Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Ron Livingston, Gary Cole, David Herman, Ajay Naidu
http://www.officeguy.com
Christopher Null - null@sirius.com - http://www.filmcritic.com
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