Office Space
That happy day when you finally graduate college and enter the workforce is upon you. You're eagerly anticipating putting your education to good use in an important, meaningful job; having an inspiring boss who will help you reach the full limits of your potential; mingling with interesting, supportive coworkers; and, of course, bringing home a big paycheck.
Get real. As the tagline for the hilarious Office Space so aptly puts it, "Work sucks." The live-action writing and directing debut of Mike Judge (creator of the Beavis & Butthead MTV series and the full-length feature Beavis & Butthead Do America) is an amusing tale of office doldrums that'll give you a good preview of what life is really like in the workplace.
Ron Livingston (Mikey's friend Rob in Swingers) plays down-on-his-luck Peter Gibbons, a 20-something who hates his job and is on the outs with his girlfriend. In a highly amusing opening sequence, Peter unsuccessfully battles some horrendous traffic on the way to work, and then arrives to his cubicle just in time to be lectured by his superiors for a tiny, inconsequential error he made.
It's a brutal day in the life of Peter, but unfortunately it's become the norm. However, when Peter goes to a counseling session with his girlfriend, an unexpected turn of events leads him to a new life philosophy: He doesn't give a shit. He disregards his boss' request that he work during the weekend, hangs up the phone on his (soon-to-be ex) girlfriend, and successfully asks out an attractive waitress he's had his eye on (Friends' Jennifer Aniston). Most significantly, he teams up with two of his coworkers, Samir (Ajay Naidu) and the unfortunately named Michael Bolton (David Herman), in a scam that will potentially screw the company out of thousands of dollars.
With the sharply written Office Space, Mike Judge proves he's more than a one-note wonder by doing a superb job of capturing the malaise of the typical office environment. His most impressive directorial touch is an instantly classic scene in which Peter, Samir and Michael carry the office copying machine to a deserted field and literally kick the crap out of it. Shot in slo-mo and set to a gangsta rap tune, this scene is pure comic genius.
Livingston is a good comedic actor who has the talent to become a star in the mold of Matthew Broderick. He gets solid support from Naidu, Herman and Aniston (who deserves credit for taking a small role in this low-budget pic), as well as Gary Cole, who gives a top-notch performance as Peter's super-anal, monotone-voiced boss.
Swingers fans take note -- while looking at Jennifer Anniston's "flair" (the name for the buttons she wears on her waitress uniform), Livingston reads the saying on one of the buttons: "We're not in Kansas anymore." It's a classy nod to the memorable Swingers scene in which Jon Favreau converses with a Vegas waitress dressed up as the Wizard of Oz's Dorothy and delivers the ill-received joke, "Well, we're not in Kansas anymore."
Whether you're a student looking for an amusing preview of what's in store for you on the job scene, or an unfortunate sap who's currently experiencing the hell of working in an office, you should get plenty of laughs from the excellent Office Space.
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These pathethic office workers deserve a toast or two from you.
Laughs aplenty, Jennifer Aniston, and a touch o' romance make this solid date material.
Buy this movie from Amazon.com
