Showing posts with label extract. Show all posts
Showing posts with label extract. Show all posts
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Extract Discussion
Jordan and Sam talk about Extract and how they weren't that far off. But seriously, did you SEE Mila Kunis....
Sam's Review: Extract
Mike Judge seems to always get a raw deal. He manages to lose himself amongst the more popular creators of animated series. Matt Groening, Seth McFarlane, Matt Stone, and Trey Parker have all gained oodles more success than Judge, but he seems to have made that role his own. Judge’s criminally underrated ‘King of The Hill’ and his opus, ‘Office Space’ are what he’s most famous for. With ‘Extract’ he has another work place comedy that isn’t really about the workplace at all.
In the film, Jason Bateman plays Joel the owner of an Extract company. Not particularly an exciting occupation but he seems to make more than a good living. Unfortunately Joel is having marital troubles with his wife (Kristen Wiig) so he looks to his best friend Dean (Ben Affleck), a druggie bartender, to provide some help. That help may come in the form of con artist Cindy (Mila Kunis), who Joel (and frankly anyone in their right mind) would like to bang. Of course, Cindy is only at the plant in an effort to get close to a worker who had a nut ripped off in an accident and is looking for a big pay day.
Dean sets up a scheme that would allow Joel to bang Cindy without feeling guilty about cheating on his wife—make her cheat on him. The set-up to the story is pretty typical Mike Judge, a main character looking for a way out of his boring (or in Joel’s case sexless) life and plenty of opportunities for shit to hit the fan really easily. Like both Office Space and King of the Hill, our every-man hero is surrounded by pretty ridiculous characters. Besides Affleck’s Dean, Joel has his right-hand man Brian who is played by the always excellent J.k. Simmons. Also the factory workers are those who are often found in Judge’s world, gabby old ladies, hardworking but slightly stupid hicks, and a metal head.
Bateman was a perfect casting choice since he is able to bring that quite exasperation to a world that just seems to be shitting all over him. Mila Kunis is excellent at looking like Mila Kunis. Affleck and Simmons uphold their ends of the bill to provide foils for Bateman’s anxiety. The comedy in the film can range from subtle to borderline cartoonish, but when used Judge is mostly successful. David Koechner plays Joel’s neighbor is perfectly annoying and a little bit sad, another common character found in Judge In a bit of stunt casting gone awry, Gene Simmons plays a lawyer looking to take Bateman for all he’s worth. At the time it may have been a cool idea but it felt flat and his non-acting skills came through. Luckily he’s only the movie for about five minutes.
Those looking for Office Space II are in for a disappointment. Even though the film has been billed as “The creator of Office Space heads back to work” it is not as good of a film then again its tough to beat a film that has left so many people quoting it 10 years later. ‘Extract’ makes for a great time at the movies, and that’s enough to ask for from someone who has given so much and received so little credit.
B+
In the film, Jason Bateman plays Joel the owner of an Extract company. Not particularly an exciting occupation but he seems to make more than a good living. Unfortunately Joel is having marital troubles with his wife (Kristen Wiig) so he looks to his best friend Dean (Ben Affleck), a druggie bartender, to provide some help. That help may come in the form of con artist Cindy (Mila Kunis), who Joel (and frankly anyone in their right mind) would like to bang. Of course, Cindy is only at the plant in an effort to get close to a worker who had a nut ripped off in an accident and is looking for a big pay day.
Dean sets up a scheme that would allow Joel to bang Cindy without feeling guilty about cheating on his wife—make her cheat on him. The set-up to the story is pretty typical Mike Judge, a main character looking for a way out of his boring (or in Joel’s case sexless) life and plenty of opportunities for shit to hit the fan really easily. Like both Office Space and King of the Hill, our every-man hero is surrounded by pretty ridiculous characters. Besides Affleck’s Dean, Joel has his right-hand man Brian who is played by the always excellent J.k. Simmons. Also the factory workers are those who are often found in Judge’s world, gabby old ladies, hardworking but slightly stupid hicks, and a metal head.
Bateman was a perfect casting choice since he is able to bring that quite exasperation to a world that just seems to be shitting all over him. Mila Kunis is excellent at looking like Mila Kunis. Affleck and Simmons uphold their ends of the bill to provide foils for Bateman’s anxiety. The comedy in the film can range from subtle to borderline cartoonish, but when used Judge is mostly successful. David Koechner plays Joel’s neighbor is perfectly annoying and a little bit sad, another common character found in Judge In a bit of stunt casting gone awry, Gene Simmons plays a lawyer looking to take Bateman for all he’s worth. At the time it may have been a cool idea but it felt flat and his non-acting skills came through. Luckily he’s only the movie for about five minutes.
Those looking for Office Space II are in for a disappointment. Even though the film has been billed as “The creator of Office Space heads back to work” it is not as good of a film then again its tough to beat a film that has left so many people quoting it 10 years later. ‘Extract’ makes for a great time at the movies, and that’s enough to ask for from someone who has given so much and received so little credit.
B+
Jordan's Review: Extract
Joel (Jason Bateman) is a simple man. All he wants is to work in his extract factory, drink at a sports bar. And have sex. He definitely, really wants to have sex. Unfortunately for him, his wife Suzie (Kristen Wiig) has a firm sweatpants rule and his overbearing, talkative neighbor (David Koechner) keeps getting in the way. Logically, there’s only one solution (as provided by Joel’s friend Dean, played hilariously by Ben Affleck): he has to hire a gigolo (Dustin Milligan) to seduce his wife so he can have a guilt free affair with the new temp Cindy (Mila Kunis). Unfortunately, and unbeknownst to Joel, Cindy is actually a con artist there to take advantage of a recent work related accident.
If it all sounds a little complicated, don’t worry, it isn’t. As parsed out over the course of 90 minutes, the plot of Extract is easy to follow. From the mind of writer-director Mike Judge (Office Space, Idiocracy), the movie is satisfied to revel in the idiocy of its characters far more than it dares to enter into the potential complexities of its plot. This is not a criticism, however, because the movie is as exceedingly funny as it is exceedingly stupid. Bateman does what he does best throughout—look blankly at people saying stupid things and become frustrated by the idiocy that surrounds him (while becoming embroiled in it himself). Ben Affleck has a lot of fun with a role that’s just that—his Dean is as relaxed and flippantly funny as Joel is uptight and paranoid. J.K. Simmons is expectedly hilarious as Brian, the co-owner of the factory who refuses to learn anybody’s name, and Dustin Milligan milks each of his exceedingly moronic lines for all its worth.
The movie does have flaws. It under uses Kristen Wiig’s comedic chops, gets lost at times in its various threads, and sort of forgets that Mila Kunis exists about two thirds of the way through, but it makes up for any shortcomings with quick pacing and enough comedic power to get audiences through the more questionable parts of the plot (like when Joel pauses in his planning to hire a gigolo to seduce his wife for just long enough to point out that “This is crazy” before continuing right along). This movie doesn’t have time to deal realistically with any ethical quandaries or character traits. There are too many jokes, and too little time to tell them, but if you’re willing to suspend a little disbelief,Extract will take you to some very funny places. At the end of it all, it seems that Mike Judge would be happier just throwing together his views of the world for a few hours than telling an actual story. And, at least in this case, that’s perfectly fine with me.
Grade: B
If it all sounds a little complicated, don’t worry, it isn’t. As parsed out over the course of 90 minutes, the plot of Extract is easy to follow. From the mind of writer-director Mike Judge (Office Space, Idiocracy), the movie is satisfied to revel in the idiocy of its characters far more than it dares to enter into the potential complexities of its plot. This is not a criticism, however, because the movie is as exceedingly funny as it is exceedingly stupid. Bateman does what he does best throughout—look blankly at people saying stupid things and become frustrated by the idiocy that surrounds him (while becoming embroiled in it himself). Ben Affleck has a lot of fun with a role that’s just that—his Dean is as relaxed and flippantly funny as Joel is uptight and paranoid. J.K. Simmons is expectedly hilarious as Brian, the co-owner of the factory who refuses to learn anybody’s name, and Dustin Milligan milks each of his exceedingly moronic lines for all its worth.
The movie does have flaws. It under uses Kristen Wiig’s comedic chops, gets lost at times in its various threads, and sort of forgets that Mila Kunis exists about two thirds of the way through, but it makes up for any shortcomings with quick pacing and enough comedic power to get audiences through the more questionable parts of the plot (like when Joel pauses in his planning to hire a gigolo to seduce his wife for just long enough to point out that “This is crazy” before continuing right along). This movie doesn’t have time to deal realistically with any ethical quandaries or character traits. There are too many jokes, and too little time to tell them, but if you’re willing to suspend a little disbelief,Extract will take you to some very funny places. At the end of it all, it seems that Mike Judge would be happier just throwing together his views of the world for a few hours than telling an actual story. And, at least in this case, that’s perfectly fine with me.
Grade: B
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