Office Space (1999)

Comedic tale of company workers who hate their jobs and decide to rebel against their greedy boss.

Director:

Mike Judge

Writers:

Mike Judge (Milton animated shorts), Mike Judge (screenplay)

Stars:

Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, David Herman

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ron Livingston	...	Peter Gibbons
Jennifer Aniston	...	Joanna
David Herman	...	Michael Bolton
Ajay Naidu	...	Samir Nagheenanajar
Diedrich Bader	...	Lawrence
Stephen Root	...	Milton Waddams
Gary Cole	...	Bill Lumbergh
Richard Riehle	...	Tom Smykowski
Alexandra Wentworth	...	Anne
Joe Bays	...	Dom Portwood
John C. McGinley	...	Bob Slydell
Paul Willson	...	Bob Porter
Kinna McInroe	...	Nina
Todd Duffey	...	Brian - Chotchkie's Waiter
Greg Pitts	...	Drew

Storyline

In the Initech office, the insecure Peter Gibbons hates his job and the abusive Division VP Bill Lumbergh that has just hired two consultants to downsize the company. His best friends are the software engineers Michael Bolton and Samir Nagheenanajar that also hate Initech, and his next door neighbor Lawrence. His girlfriend Anne is cheating on him but she convinces Peter to visit the hypnotherapist Dr. Swanson. Peter tells how miserable his life is and Dr. Swanson hypnotizes him and he goes into a state of ecstasy. However, Dr. Swanson dies immediately after giving the hypnotic suggestion to Peter. He dates the waitress Joanna and changes his attitude in the company, being promoted by the consultants. When he discovers that Michael and Samir will be fired, they decide to plant a virus in the account system to embezzle fraction of cents in each financial operation into Peter's account. However Michael commits a mistake in the software and instead of decimals, they steal a large amount....

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Plot Keywords:

neighbor | office | computer | software engineer | downsizing | 

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Taglines:

A comedy from Mike Judge, creator of "Beavis and Butt-head" and co-creator "King of the Hill".

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and brief sexuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 February 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cubiculos de la oficina

Filming Locations:

4120 Friedrich Lane, Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$4,231,727 (USA) (19 February 1999)

Gross:

ESP 89,991,972 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Cubicle Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Artie Lange auditioned for the role of Milton.

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Goofs

When Peter and Samir are dragging Michael away from the printer, he is holding the power cable. He drops it when he attempts to attack the printer one more time, but in the shot of the three of them walking back to the car, he's holding it again.

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Quotes

Peter Gibbons: So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.
Dr. Swanson: What about today? Is today the worst day of your life?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah.
Dr. Swanson: Wow, that's messed up.

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Crazy Credits

At the very end of the credits, it states "This movie was cut entirely on a computer."

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Connections

Referenced in Bruce Almighty (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Get Off My Elevator"
Written by Kool Keith (as Keith Thornton) and Kutmasta Kurt (as Kurt Matlin)
Performed by Kool Keith
Courtesy of Funky Ass Records

User Reviews

Clever Little Comedy

It still boggles my mind that this classic working-person's comedy was overlooked at the box office. Unlike today's dumbed-down, unfunny comedy-schlock, Office Space's script was carefully written before the camera began shooting. Based on his Milton shorts, Mike Judge wrote and directed Office Space and did a great job. The film is cleverly written, nicely plotted and paced, and holds interest even after repeated viewings (something I can not say for most comedies).

Peter (Ron Livingston) and his friends have a permanent case of 'the Mondays.' Stuck in dead end programming jobs in an uncaring corporate environment, with a series of ridiculous, annoying and dysfunctional co-workers, Peter has motivation problems. At the request of his equally aggravating girlfriend, he subjects himself to occupational therapy via hypnotism, but just as he reaches a deep trance state, the hypnotist drops dead, and Peter is left in a state of blissful lack of inhibitions. And as things begin to go wrong, they actually get better

• through the films twisted (but oh so truthful) logic.

Ron Livingston leads a nicely cast group of actors, including an early appearance by the now-famous Jennifer Aniston. Diedrich Bader is especially memorable for his heroic portrayal of Lawrence, the next-door neighbor and guru. And Ron Coleman and Stephen Root are wonderful.

I have seen Office Space at least ten times, and it, remarkably, does not get old. The recent tendency to dumb-down comedic film exhibits contempt for its own audience. A return to comedies that don't punish people for thinking would make me a fan of the genre, and this would be a great example to draw from.