© Miramax Films
To say the least, Mike Judge set the bar very high for himself with Office Space. It's one of the funniest and most quotable movies ever and even though, if you're like me, you can now watch it and recite every line of dialogue, it doesn't feel old or dated; it's still flat out funny. With Extract, Judge has returned to the workplace as a setting for his latest offering but unfortunately, it doesn't have the same impact as his earlier effort.
In Extract, we come upon Joel (the always reliable Jason Bateman) at a time in his life when things aren't so good. His job is causing him a lot of stress and his marriage isn't as romantic as it once was. One night while lamenting about these things to his best friend Dean (Ben Affleck as we've never seen him before), they hatch a plan that involves male prostitution and an extra marital affair. When neither of those work, Dean suggests weed, which predictably ends with little to no success. It must be said that the scene where Joel smokes up with Dean and his roommate is one of the funnier scenes in the movie. Meanwhile, Joel and his extract company could be sued into oblivion by a disgruntled employee and an ambulance chasing lawyer (Gene Simmons playing a sleazeball; what a stretch, right?)
What works in this flick is the casting. Bateman is excellent as Joel, channeling his former character Michael Bluth from Arrested Development. Much like State of Play earlier this year, Affleck proves he's one of the best actors around as he fully wraps himself in Dean's slacker/stoner blanket of idiocy. Kristen Wiig is a great comedic actress but her talents go to waste in Extract as Joel's wife Suzie; all she really does is sit there and act frumpy. This isn't hear fault, it's pretty clear that that is how the character was written. Although he isn't featured in the advertising, David Koechner as Joel and Suzie's neighbor Nathan is hilarious. Within two minutes of his appearing on screen, you already hate him (which you're supposed to) which makes it gloriously and awkwardly funny, something Koechner always succeeds at.
What doesn't work about Extract is the film itself. There are many funny moments that induce out-loud laughter but overall, it just feels uneven. Some parts drag and there are some moments that just fell flat when they were supposed to be funny. For example, the scene where Joel and Dean are explaining the plan to Brad (Dustin Milligan) about how he is supposed to seduce Suzie to see if she'll cheat on Joel, I found myself waiting for something hilarious to be said and it just felt like they were trying too hard, which really can be said about the movie as a whole. Even though the film was ultimately disappointing, I walked away with the feeling that maybe this flick will get funnier after repeated viewings once it hits DVD. Oh well, at least Beavis and Butthead liked it.
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