Office Space (1999)

VERDICT:
9/10 Jump-To-Conclusions Mats

Was hilarious before I graduated college and stepped into “the real world”, and now that I’m there…still can’t believe how it true it all is.

Office Space is about a guy who’s girlfriend is probably cheating on him, who hates his bullshit job pushing paper at a software programming company, Initech, who is nonetheless worried about getting fired, and who does absolutely nothing to change his circumstances. Then one day he goes to a hypnotist who sends him into a state of perpetual nirvana, thus prompting this former dull bastard to stop taking orders and do whatever the hell he wants instead.

This is the story of Peter Gibbons – a god among men.

Was planning to post this one on a Monday as a nod to the whole “Looks like someone’s got a case of the Mondays” thing, but, folks, I couldn’t help myself. It’s been a long week.

I was tempted to give this movie an 8 out of 10 for a while there, then it occurred to me that this was and always will be the be-all-end-all satire of corporate America. There’s simply no point in trying to one-up this because no one will ever say it better. Sorry, screenwriters, but this one’s a losing battle.

It’s pretty self-explanatory why this movie works as well as it does, pretty much because work environments like that at Initech are more or less a joke in themselves. And considering that everyone has worked a shitty job in their life, whether it be in an cubicle or otherwise, even if you can’t exactly go “That’s what I’m talkin‘ about!” when Peter and his buddies murder the office printer/copier, you’ll get it and you will laugh.

The writing here is just so damn good and quotable and original, especially for a comedy. It’s not lewd and it doesn’t go for shock value, but rather it cashes in on being painfully observant, has a great cast of characters, and has a slew of freakin’ classic running gags, most of which can be summed up in two words…

Michael Bolton.

And even though this is probably one of the best things Jennifer Aniston‘s ever done with her life as Peter’s love interest, I can’t help but totally dig when a cast of unknowns like this works so well. Ron Livingston is great as Peter, Diedrich Bader has some choice lines as Peter’s next-door neighbor, Gary Cole is a rip as Peter’s boss, Lumbergh, and of course I have to give it up to Stephen Root as Milton. Can’t forget Milton – the one and only reason anyone gives a damn about red Swingline staplers. The only backfire here is that, with the exception of Jennifer, this cast will never escape these characters for as long as they live. Might not be the worst thing in the world considering how awesome this movie is, but still, I can imagine how being “That guy from Office Space” could get old quick, let alone being called “Milton!” at every casting call you show up to.

Man, I could go on about this movie, but it’s one of those things that’s actually better to just quote about with friends rather than break down to a science. With that being said, feel free to leave comments on your favorite parts, let’s get a good little discussion going here, m’kay? Great.

Whenever I talk about the guy, my uncle/fellow movie buff always calls Mike Judge “a comic genius”, and while that’s a pretty epic statement, I’ve gotta agree with him. Even if Office Space were the only credit to his career, had Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill never even been created, I think the statement would still stand. Usually after groundbreaking comedies like this come out, there is inevitably an absurd amount of horribly sub-par knock-offs that try to capture that same magic in the following years. Maybe it’s because it was a box office dud when it was out in theaters, but time has been more than kind to this movie since and there still hasn’t been any competition.

When you make something so good that no one even tries to copy it just because they know they can’t, that, my friend, is the mark of genius.

Have a nice weekend, everyone, and don’t forget to show her your “O” face.