Extract

Mike Judge has serious cult status. He created Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill. He wrote and directed Office Space. Hell, even Idiocracy has somewhat of a cult following now. The problem is, I do not like any of that stuff. I know it is some kind of Sacrilegious thing to not like Office Space, but I don't. So what would possess me to his latest especially when it is being promoted as Mike Judge's return to the office. Well, a great cast including Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Mila Kunis, Ben Affleck and the always reliable J.K Simmons. A great cast can some what overcome deficiencies. Plus, it actually looked funny.

In the extract business, things are not looking up for Joel(Bateman). He owns the extract business, but he is desperate to sell it. When he was in college he found a secret for food extract that he turned into a business, which has turned into a headache. On top of all the work problems, his wife, Suzie(Wiig) refuses to have sex with him. He tries to find comfort with his best friend Dean(Affleck), but Dean only offers him drugs for comfort. Then, a new girl starts working at the plant. This girl, Cindy(Kunis) appears to be interested in food extract and she appears to want Joel. But Cindy is also working an angle; she is also seeing Step(Clifton Collins Jr.), a guy who may be suing the extract company for millions due to a freak accident that left him with one testicle. Joel is at his wits end, but he wants to sleep with Cindy, but he wants to feel no guilt, so he hires a gigolo, Brad(Dustin Milligan) to seduce his wife to relieve the guilt of wanting to sleep with Cindy. While all of this is going on General Mills shows interest in buying the company and the employees are trying to figure out a way to get a cut. And to top it all off, Joel has to deal with the most annoying neighbor ever, Nathan(David Koechner).

If the plot for Extract seems very sitcom-y, it is. Every plot could have come out of a sitcom, or a cable sitcom. A guy hires another guy to sleep with his wife, but it goes to well. A girl is a kleptomaniac, but the Mexican guy gets blamed for it. Blah Blah Blah. However, no one finds the funny nuance of quiet desperation like Jason Bateman. Arrested Development started it and he has been riding the wave ever since. His sarcasm is not as biting in this because Judge is a weak writer, but Bateman does his best and he plays well off of everyone. J.K Simmons plays Bateman's business partner and he does a yeoman's job as usual. Ben Affleck practically walks away with the movie with his long hair, bad facial hair and constant drug pushing. He is having fun and it shows. Dunstin Milligan as the idiot gigolo might get the most laughs, or maybe it is Bateman's reactions to him that get the laughs and Koechner's annoying neighbor is perfect down to the plaid shorts.

So, you have all these great characters doing their best with a hit and miss script and a story that unfolds just too perfectly. That leaves you with a movie where a bunch of people try their best, but you just wish it was all in a better movie. Mike Judge is known for key insight to a specific group of people whether it be burnout teens, office workers or just an idiot society, but he is too all over the place in this movie. The focus is off, the point of view is skewed. The opening scene focuses on Cindy, but she is never really explained. I mean, I get opening on a scene of the oh-so-sexy Mila Kunis flirting with a couple of guys, but this chronic thief is never given a motive, really. We get she likes money, but does she need it? Does she just feed off of the thrill? Did she miss hugs as a child?

I felt like the laughs in this movie were wasted in the first half and watching the second half was more like something you have to do, than something you want to do. The idea of a guy getting one testicle shot off is funny for a few seconds, but in a excruciatingly unfunny scene involving Gene Simmons, Yes that Gene Simmons, that testicle joke goes and goes and goes. The stuff with the Kristen Wiig is pretty much a waste. She is one of the funniest women out there right now and she is not given much to do until the end and then she unloads nicely. She does look surprisingly good in a bikini, though. Bateman is carrying the weight of the movie and he is solid, but it is hard to overcome all of the shortcomings in the script and the directing.

Final Grade:C-