I'm not sure it is essential to have worked in an office to enjoy this film, but I'm certain it will hit home for those who have. The movie was a complete bust at the box office, which utterly mystifies me, because it is hysterically funny and reflects the experience of millions of people across the United States (and I assume elsewhere). In an age where companies are seeking to lay off workers at any possible opportunity, this film has perhaps even more relevance now than it did when it came out in 1999.The humor of the film works on multiple levels, but for me so much of it is funny with a twist of the knife, for much of the humor hints at a much more serious fact: modern work is genuinely dreadful and alienating. Perhaps many office workers love their job, but I hate mine, and I assume that I am merely one of millions. No one in this film has a meaningful job. Even Lumbergh, though the boss, has an absurd position. Peter Gibbons is at least able to be honest about the ridiculousness of his plight during the incredibly funny sequence in which he is hypnotized.The film is a collection of many, many wonderful moments. I started laughing from the second that Peter Gibbons gets trapped in the traffic jam and is passed by an old man on a walker, and didn't stop until the very end. The film is a parade of very funny bits, from Michael Bolton and his passion for gangsta rap to Joanna's boss urging her to wear more flair (played by director Mike Judge) to Peter's neighbor who would yell at him through the walls to Peter's bizarre fantasy in which Lumbergh is making love to Joanna holding a cup of coffee in one hand and her ankle in the other to virtually any conversation involving Lumbergh and Milton. Some of the humor is a bit too broad. For instance, although I defy anyone not to find Milton's sequences funny as heck, they don't fit in quite as neatly with the satire of the rest of the film. I wouldn't, however, want to trade them in for a tighter movie.In a way, this movie has made my life easier to live. I suspected my job was absurd before seeing this film. Now I know it is. But somehow knowing the truth makes it easier to get through the day. Office Space [VHS]
This movie made an almost "psychic" connection with me... the first time I saw it, I had just come home from my nightmare job -- many of the same things depicted in the movie had happened to me that very day, including the printer jam with that exact message "Error - PC Load Letter", while trying to print a report that was already late (what the heck does that message mean, anyway?!). I related so well to this movie's honest, astute, and technically correct observations of office culture in the 90's, that the brilliantly original bits of commedy were almost incidental to me (I must have annoyed the heck out of my wife with outbursts like "Oh my GOD, that's so TRUE!" every two minutes). I caught some of the more subtle humor in subsequent viewings. I'll admit, the movie lost its hold on me about 2/3 in, when the main character (who had by this time become an icon to me with his new found "no fear of consequences" attitude) took a strange criminal direction, and his angst began to return. This seemed to break the consistancy. I wan't too thrilled with Jenifer Aniston's performance either, although I suppose that had more to do with her script. In any case, the second time I watched the move, none of this bothered me as much.I've since purchased the DVD, and have worn this disk out playing it for friends. I'll never get tired of this movie... even the sound track makes me laugh. It's a wonder that it didn't get better reviews, although I guess one really would have had to have experienced office politics in the 90's to fully relate (I wonder when was the last time in the 90's that Ebert heard, "Don't forget to fill in your timesheets!")Some reviewers gave it low ratings claiming that it was "lightweight"... okay, so it's no Citizen Kane, but it certainly doesn't claim to be either! Give it credit for what it is -- as a lighthearted observational commedy, it's brilliant. And that's not to say that it was a total no-brainer either... on an intelligence level, I'd rate it much higher than say... any movie ever made by the Fairley Brothers (and certainly much lower on the "obnoxious bathroom humor"-scale).It's a pretty sad testiment to the intelligence of the average North American that movies like "Me, Myself, and Irene" brought in more money than Office Space. I hope Mike Judge doesn't let this stop him from creating another gem.
If you've ever worked in a tiny cubicle, pushed papers, and fought a worthless fax machine in an attempt to earn a living, you will love this movie. OFFICE SPACE is a hilarious movie that deconstructs everything that makes an office worker's life so miserable: from morning traffic, to catch phrases (it looks like somone has the Moondays), to bosses that totally ignore their workers. This movie had a low budget, but Mike Judge is a brilliant filmmaker. He takes a relatively unknown cast and is able to milk hilarious, yet totally lifelike performances from each actor and unites everything together in a coherent conceptually comedy masterpiece (e.g. the fax-beating scene with the ganster music playing is just pure brilliance). Of course, the film says a lot about the actors as well, they don't seem to be just characters or caricatures: they seem like real people. There is no sex, relative little violence (well, there is a lot of violence toward inanimate objects), and relatively little cursing words (most of the foul language comes from the film's soundtrack). A movie that's destined to become a modern comedy classic.
If you have ever worked in a cubicle farm for a technology company, or ROFL after reading Dilbert cartoons, and know what ROFL means, you will love this movie. Mike Judge (creator of Beavis and Butthead) digs into and makes fun of the things that people hate most about their jobs, with such accuracy that he must have consulted Scott Adams himself while developing the screenplay.With company names like "Penetrode", this movie takes numerous humorous stabs at the idiocy foisted upon the modern working class by the "management class", those highly-compensated stuffed-shirts with no more qualifications than an MBA hanging on their wall. These are the people who abuse you every time you make a mistake, and try to convince you that they are really your buddy in a thinly veiled attempt to keep you submissive and cooperative. Office Space tears into the very heart of the manipulative phony friendship ploy that so many managers think of as their "brilliant" management technique.So if you're tired of being shocked every time you touch a door knob, and sick of having half a dozen different "bosses" giving you conflicting work assignments, then I highly recommend that you buy this movie and blow off some steam, before it's too late!This film is a lot of fun to watch, but if you're looking for an intellectually challenging work of art, this is not the film for you. The story is quite simple; it is a single-layer story that conveys the same information on subsequent viewing as it conveyed during the first viewing. The visual and audio elements are interesting and entertaining, but not artistic. This is a fun comedy that a lot of people can identify with, not deep social commentary. However, the social commentary that IS in the film couldn't be more timely.The DVD itself is mediocre. No extras to speak of, other than cast bios and one trailer. Transitions from one menu to another are slightly animated, and the way the DVD starts up is cute, but overall the power of the DVD medium is not utilized.Movie ------- Originality: B+ Creativity: B+ Complexity/Depth: C+ Relevance/Message: A+ Artistic Merit: C Overall Entertainment Value: ADVD ------ Transfer Quality: A Extras: C- Use of Medium: C+ - Cult Classic - Diedrich Bader - Jennifer Aniston - Comedy'
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