Office Space Review
by Akiva Gottlieb (akiva AT excite DOT com)March 1st, 1999
Office Space **1/2
rated R
starring Ron Livingston, Gary Cole, Jennifer Aniston, David Herman, Ajay Naidu, Stephen Root
written and directed by Mike Judge
"What would you do if you had a million dollars?" asks a character in Mike Judge's awkward satire OFFICE SPACE. "Two chicks at the same time," answers the other. Right from the start, Judge makes sure you know that this movie is from the creator of the controversial animated TV program BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD(and co-creator of KING OF THE HILL). But despite being at times very funny and very entertaining, OFFICE SPACE fails to live up to it's creator's potential.
Based on Judge's animated shorts "Milton", OFFICE SPACE tells the story of Peter Gibbons(Ron Livingston), a young computer programmer at a large corporation called Initech. Peter's job is slowly eating away at him. His boss, played by Gary Cole, is defnitely a creation of Judge; he is a boss who is always hinting at something else. A nearby secretary answers every phone call with "Just a moment". The computer won't print. A nearby stuttering employee(Stephen Root) is calling Peter on the phone to complain about his desk being moved constantly. And Peter stays at his desk all day and plays Tetris. One Saturday, Peter disobeys his boss and doesn't come to work. From that point on, Peter is a crazed man who just doesn't care about anything anymore. He comes into work without a suit on the day in which many employess are being laid off. But instead of being fired, Peter is given a promotion because of his frankness and laid-back attitude, and his hard-working friends Samir(Ajay Naidu) and Michael Bolton(David Herman)...yes you heard me correctly...have been laid off. Wanting to get back at the corporation, these 3 friends decide to hatch a scheme that could ruin the whole business without them even knowing. It is then that Peter meets a pretty young waitress(Jennifer Aniston) with whom he begins a very underdeveloped relationship(arguably the worst part of the film).
The whole "work is hell" message of OFFICE SPACE doesn't work nearly as well as it did in last year's CLOCKWATCHERS. One of the reasons for this is that Judge, like the Farrelly brothers, isn't above adding stupid subplots to generate some laughs. The sign of a great comedic filmmaker is when they can give you laughs without ruining a good plot. RUSHMORE is a fine example of that kind of film. Judge, however, does show some signs of potential in his first film. The script is occasionally smart, and he gets likable performances from most of his actors(Aniston excluded), especially Livingston, who had a small role in SWINGERS. OFFICE SPACE is also a bit too short to make much of an impression, but for light comedic fare, this should provide some harmless entertainment.
review by the Teenage Movie Critic
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