Office Space
For this edition of....
We have Ron Livingston's big breakout cult hit....
Office Space
Info:
Director/Writer-- Mike Judge
Starring--- Ron Livingston
Jennifer Anniston
Stephen Root
Gary Cole
Year: 1999
Company: 20th Century Fox
The Basic Scoop, The Poop, The Lowdown:
An uber-frustrated computer techie named Peter Gibbons (Livingston) has a kind of "religious experience" when he visits a hypnotherapist, becoming instantly transformed into a ball-busting sarcastic super slacker, even summoning up the W-T-F will to ignore his annoying Boss from Hell Bill Lumbergh. ( Cole) and concoct a scheme with his geek buddies to ripoff their company tons of money...a little at a time. But when the "spell" begins to wear off and reality sets in, it's all that Peter can do to keep himself and his friends out of trouble.
What's Pretty Good:
This film is probably one of the most accurate cinematic portraits of office white collar culture in Texas out there. Peter's duplex apartment looks like dang-near every low-rent pad I've ever "stayed" at (dawwwwg! ;) ) The supporting characters, although stereotypes, are pitch-perfect ACCURATE stereotypes (at least in MY experience ;) ) of office dorks oblivious to their own unhipness, and Cole's performance as Lumbergh and Stephen Root's "squirrely" office nerd deluxe character Milton have become pop-culture standards. I also find the opening sequence all-to-real and funny, given that's a perfect film depiction of the morning rush hour traffic"experience" in Austin, Dallas, or Houston, right down to the skeezy looking black guy selling useless shit to drivers in the road median. A slice of a lot of peoples lives down here in Texas, most definitely! Ron Livingston's smooth direct MidWestern style really helps bring this film up too, and make many of his lines funnier on screen then they might otherwise would have been.
What Kinda Sorta Really, Really Sucks:
In short, this is honestly one of those movies that people either love or hate, and with my friends Normies or Vampies, this film tends to split them fifty-fifty. While it's subtle humor and realism (to some extent, duh it is a comedy! ;) ) is a plus because people can identify with it, it's also a negative, because the film's plot is soo understated. The setting is a modern office building and is overall quite boring. (Again VERY accurate, but not necessarily entertaining, in mood.) Because this film's perhaps TOO real in some instances (and not as "zany" as Steve Carrell in The Office, many may find the jokes in the film flat. The plot's also pretty predictable. Even if you've never seen it before, you can still figure out how things are generally going to turn out, but if you find yourself liking the characters by that point, you won't feel too put out about knowing everything like a slacker psychic before "The End." Also some may find it's runtime to be a little too short.
Overall Film Grade: B +
A light, amusing cult comedy film that office geeks everywhere (especially in Texas) will probably love (if they haven't seen it and love it already) but others might find it too light and lacking enough substance.
---Chet
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We have Ron Livingston's big breakout cult hit....
Office Space
Info:
Director/Writer-- Mike Judge
Starring--- Ron Livingston
Jennifer Anniston
Stephen Root
Gary Cole
Year: 1999
Company: 20th Century Fox
The Basic Scoop, The Poop, The Lowdown:
An uber-frustrated computer techie named Peter Gibbons (Livingston) has a kind of "religious experience" when he visits a hypnotherapist, becoming instantly transformed into a ball-busting sarcastic super slacker, even summoning up the W-T-F will to ignore his annoying Boss from Hell Bill Lumbergh. ( Cole) and concoct a scheme with his geek buddies to ripoff their company tons of money...a little at a time. But when the "spell" begins to wear off and reality sets in, it's all that Peter can do to keep himself and his friends out of trouble.
What's Pretty Good:
This film is probably one of the most accurate cinematic portraits of office white collar culture in Texas out there. Peter's duplex apartment looks like dang-near every low-rent pad I've ever "stayed" at (dawwwwg! ;) ) The supporting characters, although stereotypes, are pitch-perfect ACCURATE stereotypes (at least in MY experience ;) ) of office dorks oblivious to their own unhipness, and Cole's performance as Lumbergh and Stephen Root's "squirrely" office nerd deluxe character Milton have become pop-culture standards. I also find the opening sequence all-to-real and funny, given that's a perfect film depiction of the morning rush hour traffic"experience" in Austin, Dallas, or Houston, right down to the skeezy looking black guy selling useless shit to drivers in the road median. A slice of a lot of peoples lives down here in Texas, most definitely! Ron Livingston's smooth direct MidWestern style really helps bring this film up too, and make many of his lines funnier on screen then they might otherwise would have been.
What Kinda Sorta Really, Really Sucks:
In short, this is honestly one of those movies that people either love or hate, and with my friends Normies or Vampies, this film tends to split them fifty-fifty. While it's subtle humor and realism (to some extent, duh it is a comedy! ;) ) is a plus because people can identify with it, it's also a negative, because the film's plot is soo understated. The setting is a modern office building and is overall quite boring. (Again VERY accurate, but not necessarily entertaining, in mood.) Because this film's perhaps TOO real in some instances (and not as "zany" as Steve Carrell in The Office, many may find the jokes in the film flat. The plot's also pretty predictable. Even if you've never seen it before, you can still figure out how things are generally going to turn out, but if you find yourself liking the characters by that point, you won't feel too put out about knowing everything like a slacker psychic before "The End." Also some may find it's runtime to be a little too short.
Overall Film Grade: B +
A light, amusing cult comedy film that office geeks everywhere (especially in Texas) will probably love (if they haven't seen it and love it already) but others might find it too light and lacking enough substance.
---Chet
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