Extract - The Next 'Office Space' This Is Not

Director:Mike Judge

Cast: Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck, Mila Kunis, Kristen Wiig, J.K.Simmons, Clifton Collins Jnr, Dustin Milligan, David Koechner

Plot: Joel (Bateman), the owner of an Extract plant, tries to contend with myriad personal and professional problems, such as his potentially unfaithful wife (Wiig), pot smoking friend (Affleck) and employees (Kunis and Collins Jnr) who want to take advantage of him.

On the cusp of the last decade Mike Judge released 'Office Space', which related to so many workers who hated their similarly dull office jobs. The film has since become something of a cult classic for its satirical depiction of the 1999 office era. Now Judge has returned almost ten years later with another work based comedy 'Extract', which is ultimately a disappointment and commits one of the biggest crimes a comedy film can; just not being that funny.

What worked so well in 'Office Space' is almost completely absent here. The humour is not nearly as subtle and a lot of the jokes feel forced. It's a real shame because the talent on show are a group of incredibly talented comedians and actors with the likes of Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Ben Affleck and Kristen Wiig all failing to find real laughs. Bateman plays Joel who is essentially any other character he has played in these kind of films over the past few years, but on sleepwalk mode. He seems slightly disinterested at times, but he does get the occasional chuckle because after all he is usually great at playing the very straight straight man.

The rest of the cast don't fair much better because really there aren't any jokes. There are long conversations about things that are supposed be funny but it doesn't seem to go anywhere. There are some funny things that happen, but not much amusing that is actually said. Ben Affleck's Dean probably has some of the best lines, but they only standout because they get slight chuckles. Similarly Dustin Milligan plays a gigolo that Joel pays to try and tempt his wife into an affair and while what happens is quite funny the character Brad is unbelievably one note. He is just an idiot and that's it essentially and while Judge makes an attempt for us to try and empathise with the meathead later on in the film, it fails because he's not particularly likable.

What I do quite like about this film however are some of the supporting characters who have very little screen time. David Koechner plays a nosey next door neighbour who has one of the funnier plot lines; small though it maybe, while a lot of the staff at Joel's extract factory are much more amusing than the main characters because we get get quick small doses of comedy that actually works.

By focusing on the factory workers life Judge has made quite a big change from the brilliant satire of corporate bigwigs in 'Office Space'. But what is different he doesn't really look into the workers like previously but more tries to tell a story and for the most part it's interesting as Joel struggles to keep his factory afloat. Employee "Step" (Collins Jnr) loses both his testicles in an accident and threatens to sue after crook Cindy (Kunis) convinces him that he could get millions from the company. This is the main problem faced by Joel (as well as his wife's misdemeanors) and is what works best about 'Extract' because you don't want to see factory staff lose their jobs.

What is slightly peculiar about 'Extract' however is that there doesn't appear to be a "bad guy". Mila Kunis is supposed to be manipulative but at times you are also supposed to like her, her character isn't entirely clear and quite conflicted, but not in good way. Then out of nowhere Gene Simmons comes in as a lawyer aiming to clear Joel out for everything he has and we are supposed to hate him apparently. He is introduced far too late and is completely ineffective as a 'villain' because he literally just appears in one scene (which is actually quite funny).

'Extract' isn't great. There are few chuckles but with such a talented cast I can't help but see this as a missed opportunity. There just isn't enough here to get excited about, but if it was on TV on a Wednesday when I had nothing else to, I would probably watch it...... if there was NOTHING else to do. 

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