Office Space

This movie is original, perfectly captures frustrations and it does not take itself too seriously. It well deserves the cult following it gets. Perhaps not innovative in its cinematography but it has brilliant storytelling and wit. A classic

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.

Hooray for Mike Judge! I didn't think there would be a way to make fun of "office life" without merely being a living Dilbert strip and using all of the same tired old workplace jokes. Kids in the Hall did it, and now Mike Judge has done it also. I am surprised to see Jennifer Aniston in a movie this entertaining! The use of hardcore gangsta rap as the soundtrack to the boys' underhanded deeds and violent ass-kicking of office equipment is hilarious and brilliant. Gary Cole's droning delivery and poor Milton's despondent mumbling doesn't get old... in fact it stays very funny. We all know someone who obsesses a little TOO much about their chair, or how many paper clips they have on their desk... and Milton makes you feel a bit of sad sympathy, especially when he doesn't get any cake. Peter's cronies Michael and Samir are classic software engineer guys that could work at any company, and Peter's construction-worker neighbor (Oswald!) is a refreshing change from the white-collar drones that infest his day. In the end Peter discovers this is the way to go... fresh air, hard labor and a bright orange vest in the perfect antidote to ummm... yeah... that would be great.... this movie is great, whether you're an office worker or not. It makes you think about all the millions and millions of damn cubicles out there... and all the people that fill them. How many of them feel suffocated and hopeless? If this film makes even ONE person take a day off and go fishing, it's done it's job.

Falling Down meets Dilbert is the best way to describe this suburban tale of cubicle dwellers who are tired of getting screwed by "the man." While the story line is nothing spectacular, the dialog and acting keep this movie moving at a brisk pace. Ron Livingston, who was excellent in a supporting role in Swingers, plays an everyman who hates his life, job, and girlfriend but has no idea what to do about it. The supporting cast of co-workers are greatness representing just about every office sub-culture perfectly albeit to extremes. Jennifer Aniston completes the male fantasy aspect of having your cake and being able to eat it as well as serving as a conscience for the protagonist. Several scenes will have you rolling in the aisles. The Boyz in the Hood kill the copier scene is the funniest I have seen in a while.

Every aggravating thing about working in an office, from the traffic on the way to work to that damn copier, is in this movie, and dealt with in ways that we've all wanted to, at some point or another. Well, except for the traffic, of course. The traffic remains undefeated. Besides telling a highly amusing story about office workers who are just fed up with it all, Office Space is full of other little comments on society, such as the way the film points out the sheer goofiness of geeky white guys who listen to hardcore rap music. The film presents a heavily exaggerated version of the typical office, but underneath that exaggeration, the depiction is very accurate. You have the fairly timid but passive aggressive superior, Bill Lumbergh, portrayed hilariously by Gary Cole, the repressive office cubicles, the mumbly guy that kind of weirds everyone out, and of course, the disillusioned office employee who just doesn't care anymore.

Ron Livingston fulfills this last role very well, being very open about his dislike of his job and his intentions to do as little as possible for as long as he still gets paid, but it is the weird guy that really gets laughs consistently, whose name, in this case, is Milton. This guy's hilarious situation involves having been laid off years before without knowing because no one told him, because he still receives a paycheck due to a glitch in the payroll system, and whose primary concerns seem to be the location of his cubicle, his red stapler, and the fact that last year, he didn't receive a piece of cake at the office party. The way that this guy's situation gets consistently worse and the way that he is pushed further and further toward the edge of sanity is one of the funniest things about this movie. And we can't forget the Indian guy, Samir, whose grammatically flawed exclamations also provide for an endless source of comedic entertainment.

Jennifer Aniston plays a small role as Peter Gibbons' (Livingston) love interest, as well as that of a waitress who is also sick and tired of the ridiculousness of her job (such as a specified minimum of pieces of `flair' that employees must wear to work). Ron's home life is another thing that is parodied in this high quality comedy, as the shortcomings of living in an average apartment are clearly and side-splittingly portrayed. Clearly, the office scenes are by far the funniest of the film, and the eventual criminal plot to embezzle a huge sum of money from the company and take up a lifestyle of not really doing anything, despite the fact that it is also very well done, can be largely overlooked because of the sheer hilarity of the rest of the film. This is excellent stuff from the famous creator of the endlessly amusing Beavis & Butt-Head who, with Office Space, has further proved that he is just the type of guy who knows what's funny.