140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW
Judge’s almost disturbingly accurate look at corporate world is ridiculously quotable & funny. Peter, Michael & Samir deserve own series…
Spoiler-free Movie Review of Office Space:
I avoided this one for a few years after it was released, simply because I knew writer/director Mike Judge solely from that infantile show Beavis & Butthead and assumed this would be similarly stupid. Really missed the boat on this one. Fortunately, I’ve made up for lost time by watching it a few dozen times in the past decade…
You really don’t have to have worked in a terrible job to appreciate Office Space. Even good jobs exhibit some of the ridiculous behavior spoofed here and the larger theme of wanting more out of life than can be found in any job is universal.
Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston in a role he could never possibly top) is a programmer working on updating software for the Y2K glitch (look it up, kids) at Initech. The work is tedious and working at the dysfunctional organization is soul-deadening for Peter and his colleagues Samir Nagheenanajar (Ajay Naidu) and Michael Bolton (David Herman). Unfulfilled by life, Peter is brought by his unsupportive and unfaithful girlfriend to a hypnotherapist, who puts Peter into a state of total relaxation – and then dies before bringing him out of the state of hypnosis. With his new carefree outlook on life, Peter sets out to make changes in his life, mainly by doing whatever he wants and not worrying about anything.
Peter’s dream of doing nothing and watching him realize it are absolutely the reason for this film’s enduring popularity. Of course it is unbelievably funny and the dialogue is so quotable that Office Space products are a cottage industry, but the real reason people love this movie has to be that we all dream of being like Peter at some time in our lives.
The story is just a lot of fun, with well written dialogue that is not as out there as it probably should be. Some of the situations and bizarre comments are dead-on.
The film is very well cast; in addition to the leads, character actors fill out a surprisingly familiar looking group. This could be your office. Gary Cole stands out impressively as VP Bill Lumbergh and Peter’s next door neighbor Lawrence (played with ernest by Diedrich Bader) steals many of his scenes.
Some of the funniest scenes come from Jennifer Aniston’s character Joanna at the Friday’s inspired restaurant Chotchkies, proving that ridiculous workplaces are certainly not the sole province of white-collar workers. (“I don’t really want to talk about my flair.”)
Office Space makes a compelling argument for being the single-greatest workplace comedy of all time.
Poster:
Trailer:
http://youtu.be/_IwzZYRejZQ
Bechdel Test:
Fail
The Representation Test Score: C (5 pts)
(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)
| Main Cast | Ron Livingston Peter Gibbons, Jennifer Aniston Joanna, David Herman Michael Bolton, Ajay Naidu Samir Nagheenanajar |
| Rating | R |
| Release Date | Fri 19 Feb 1999 UTC |
| Director | Mike Judge |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Plot | Comedic tale of company workers who hate their jobs and decide to rebel against their greedy boss. |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 89 |
| Tagline | Work Sucks. |
| Writers | Mike Judge (Milton animated shorts), Mike Judge (screenplay) |
| Year | 1999 |
