Office Space
[2.5/4.0]
Many office workers have experienced a "bad case of the Mondays", that feeling of lethargy at the beginning of the week caused by the meaningless banalities of the white-collar work culture. Peter Gibbons experiences this with a horrible commute, multiple levels of bosses hounding him to adhere to the minutia of corporate bureaucracy, and most of all, the feeling that this type of life is not meant for him. After a mishap during a visit to a hypnotherapist, Peter undergoes a personality change and begins to unyoke himself from the norms of corporate culture. He parks in his boss' reserved parking space, he disassembles his stifling cubicle, he dresses any way he wants, etc. When he finds out that his two best friends in the department, Samir and Michael Bolton (no relation to the pop singer) will be laid off in the impending downsizing, he persuades the two software engineers to join him in a plot to get even with the company.
Director Mike Judge has achieved success with his television creations "Beavis and Butthead" and "King of the Hill". He also is behind the animated "Milton" shorts, which have appeared on the television series "Saturday Night Live" from time to time. This story is based on that series, and the character of Milton (the wormy office pariah who is continuously dumped upon) is a part of this story, but remains a side character. Typical of Judge humor, there are satirical attacks on this particular subculture, and also the general popular culture. From the business oriented restaurants with insipid names like "Chotchkie's" and "Flingers", to the various creatures who populate the corporate jungle, there is a continuous undertone of cynically essaying the life of the office worker.
Although the film is consistently funny, the story lacks the narrative continuity that even Judge's television episodes have. Peters romance with a restaurant waitress is wholly superficial and uninteresting. It was apparently inserted simply for marketing purposes. The Milton character is grating and is mostly unnecessary also. The entire story has the feel of being stretched in order for the kernel material (which is good) to fit within the framework of a feature film. This film has many similarities to another, "Clockwatchers", and although that is not as funny, it constructs a better story.
Moderately recommended. The film is consistently funny. Anyone who works in the office environment will see parts of their everyday lives reflected and skewered on the screen. However, the story is not smooth and often is conveniently manipulated to serve the narrative.
(c) 1999 Murali Krishnan The Art House Squatter http://ArtHouseSquatter.com
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