Mike Judge, the brain behind TV’s “Beavis and Butt-Head” and “King of the Hill,” as well as the cult hit Office Space, has once again has made a workplace comedy, his new film Extract. ‘Extract’ refers to a flavoring extracted from various items (such as vanilla extract.)
Jason Bateman (TV’s “Arrested Development”) stars as the owner of Reynold’s Extract, Joel. Joel’s small factory is in negotiations to be bought out by General Mills, which will mean a lot of money for Joel and his second-in-command Brian (J.K. Simmons, I Love You, Man). Until then, however, Joel has to deal with troublesome employees, a sexy new temp named Cindy (Mila Kunis, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) who is a professional con artist and a potential lawsuit from Step (Clifton Collins Jr., Sunshine Cleaning), a dedicated employee who lost one of his testicles in a freak work-related accident.
Meanwhile, Joel also has to put up with marriage problems with his wife Suzie (Kristen Wiig, Adventureland) and an annoying neighbor who can’t take a hint (David Koechner, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard). The only refuge Joel has from his problems is at a local sports bar where his friend Dean (Ben Affleck, State of Play) works.
In the same vein as Office Space, Extract is really a movie about a guy who is unhappy with his work and his life and makes all the wrong decisions about how to improve his happiness. Extract, however, is a lot drier and somewhat darker than Office Space. Indeed, there are points in Extract where it is hard to watch, but this also adds to the realism of the movie. Good intentions often go bad and some people really are less intelligent (or more biased) than others, and Mike Judge revels in that fact like he always has.
Unfortunately, Extract is not quite as funny as Office Space, which almost everyone who sees this will likely use for means of comparison. There are still plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, often involving the antics of Dean who is constantly putting bad ideas into Joel’s head and trying to feed him any drugs he’s willing to try. Many of the bits in the actual workplace are also a good source of humor, and anyone who’s had a job that involves working with a diverse set of people will certainly agree.
Extract’s strongest quality is that the film is near perfectly cast. Jason Bateman plays Joel with familiarity and ease. He’s done this sort of role before and it shows. He is the common thread in the film that ties everything together, and it’s hard to envision another actor playing the part as well as he does.
Also of note is Kristen Wiig, who may very well give the film’s best performance. The underrated actress of “Saturday Night Live” fame is wonderfully deadpan as Joel’s wife Suzie, who is, like all the characters in the film, guilty of making mistakes but ultimately means well and wants to have a happy marriage.
As far as the rest of the cast, Ben Affleck is hilarious. Clifton Collins Jr. is great and sincere as a redneck employee who just wants to make an honest living, and Mila Kunis does well with her role, playing a gold digger and con artist while still being person that you can’t help feeling sorry for in the end.
Gene Simmons also makes an appearance in a funny cameo as one of those lawyers who you see on bus benches and TV ads.
Extract is not necessarily Mike Judge at his best-Office Space and his cartoons still are the best display of his true genius-But it is a funny and true to life movie that is worth checking out, especially if you’re a fan of his previous work.
