January 4, 2010
Extract (2009)
Should I see it?
I'm sorry to say, no.
I am a fan of Mike Judge. Dating back to when he erupted on the American cultural landscape with Beavis & Butthead through his low-key but clever films (Office Space, Idiocracy), I have always considered him to be one of the most insightful comedic writers working. His criticisms of American life and the vacuous state of our culture have been dead-on.
Unfortunately, Judge has decided to pull away from his satirical brand. Extract is more of a straight comedy, playing on the uncomfortable fumbling of a middle-aged man trying to come to terms with his unsatisfying life. Missing is Judge's biting humor. The situations have no deeper meaning beyond what is happening on screen so any humor is likewise distant.
Judge's work is character-based. One can't walk away from his previous works without some connection with the people in the story. In this film, other than a bitter, assembly line worker and a lawyer, the characters are rather thin. It seems Judge had little affection for the people he is writing about. Either that or he had no idea who they were. This is seen in the second half of the film where the story simply swings from catastrophe to catastrophe without deepening emotional payoff. Layers of bad things pile up and then POOF, there's a flimsy resolution.
More times than not this is a character issue in the script. When characters are properly developed and managed, their motives will grind against one another. These conflicts will all lead to the same point where a single, clearly defined resolution is achieved. If the writer is unclear on his characters, who they are, what they want, the conflicts will get jumpy and misaligned. While it is possible to smooth over such faults throughout the story, it will always come to light in the final act.
I am a fan of Judge but I have to turn this one down. I can't recommend this movie. It is poorly written, contains unnecessary crudeness and way too much Ben Affleck. Three strikes, this one is out.
Related Reviews:
JK Simmons movies
Juno (2007)
The Ladykillers (2004)
Other Critic’s Reviews:
Culture Dogs
Movie Cynics
Labels: Ben Affleck, David Koechner, film, Jason Bateman, JK Simmons, Kristen Wiig, Mike Judge, Mila Kunis, movie review
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 2:00 PM
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June 22, 2009
Idiocracy (2006)
Should I see it?
Yes.
Related Reviews:Yes.
Short Review: This is the kind of film I’d recommend, but I won’t be able to look you in the eye when I do it.
The premise of this movie is fantastic. It is centered around Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson), an average guy - actually he's the average guy. Joe is cryogenically frozen by the military and, thanks to some bad luck, wakes up five hundred years in the future where he finds that due to reverse Darwinism, stupid people have out bred the smart ones. Joe is the smartest person in the world. This is solid groundwork for a comedy.
Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead) wrote and directed this movie and his sharp satirical talents are clearly visible. While this piece isn’t as comfortable or quotable as Judge’s cable TV staple Office Space, it has the same insight. In essence, this film is a full frontal attack on the stupidity of modern American culture. Judge, who has been mocking the idiocy of this culture for almost twenty years, is dead on with many of his salvos. The overall culture is in complete free fall. We have come to embrace the lowest parts of human nature as treasures by celebrating the inept over the helpful. We are taking climatological advice from dimwit actors and considering moral advice from comedians. Our “intellectual” class couldn’t be more useless as they battle against free thought and embrace groupthink concepts like political correctness. Heck, we’ve dipped so low as to allow for journalists to decide what’s important. Face it, when low life, do nothing journalists are considered vital members of society, you’re in trouble.
To water this down, Judge argues that our culture is little more than a bunch of brain dead zombies giggling at nutshots and farts. We're a culture obsessed with the dumb, obsessed with stuff like this:
Okay, that's pretty awesome so its not the best example. Honestly, I can watch this loop for hours. The reaction of the guy holding the pogo stick is priceless.
To put it another way, this movie is a poor man’s Children of Men, which is a haughty examination of how vacuous Western Civilization has become. While Children of Men is an insufferable mess that is so intent of being smart that it smothers itself, this film travels the exact opposite direction. It goes out of its way to mock our stupid natures by trading in a long line of scatological punch lines. The intelligence hidden in overall point gets a muddled by the litany of butt jokes. To be fair though, the butt jokes are pretty funny.
As a comedy, this film isn’t hilarious but does manage some good laughs. It starts out very strong and fizzles out by the final act. This is due to a lack of a viable villain for the hero Joe to confront. In essence, Joe Bauer is fighting against the whole stupid world. While this may work on paper, it doesn’t translate to the screen. Judge is forced by his final act to devolve into a distracting resolution that feels clunky and certainly isn’t funny – its barely even interesting. This said, the satirical points forwarded by this movie make up for the thin script and by the time the final act rolls around the film has made enough good moments to cover for its lousy resolution.
To sum up, this should have been a funnier film but it couldn’t be more pertinent. Judge makes some strikingly salient points about the condition of our culture but fails to balance them with his usual biting humor.
I will end by pointing out that the best way to enjoy this film is to watch it and then quickly make your way to the closest Wal-Mart. The similarities are creepy.
Cautions: The film has plenty of foul language and sexual references - just like you get when you hang around real life stupid people.
For fun, here are some commercials for the very real energy drink Brawndo. I think they do a good job of summing up the humor of this film.
Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead) wrote and directed this movie and his sharp satirical talents are clearly visible. While this piece isn’t as comfortable or quotable as Judge’s cable TV staple Office Space, it has the same insight. In essence, this film is a full frontal attack on the stupidity of modern American culture. Judge, who has been mocking the idiocy of this culture for almost twenty years, is dead on with many of his salvos. The overall culture is in complete free fall. We have come to embrace the lowest parts of human nature as treasures by celebrating the inept over the helpful. We are taking climatological advice from dimwit actors and considering moral advice from comedians. Our “intellectual” class couldn’t be more useless as they battle against free thought and embrace groupthink concepts like political correctness. Heck, we’ve dipped so low as to allow for journalists to decide what’s important. Face it, when low life, do nothing journalists are considered vital members of society, you’re in trouble.
To water this down, Judge argues that our culture is little more than a bunch of brain dead zombies giggling at nutshots and farts. We're a culture obsessed with the dumb, obsessed with stuff like this:
Okay, that's pretty awesome so its not the best example. Honestly, I can watch this loop for hours. The reaction of the guy holding the pogo stick is priceless.
To put it another way, this movie is a poor man’s Children of Men, which is a haughty examination of how vacuous Western Civilization has become. While Children of Men is an insufferable mess that is so intent of being smart that it smothers itself, this film travels the exact opposite direction. It goes out of its way to mock our stupid natures by trading in a long line of scatological punch lines. The intelligence hidden in overall point gets a muddled by the litany of butt jokes. To be fair though, the butt jokes are pretty funny.
As a comedy, this film isn’t hilarious but does manage some good laughs. It starts out very strong and fizzles out by the final act. This is due to a lack of a viable villain for the hero Joe to confront. In essence, Joe Bauer is fighting against the whole stupid world. While this may work on paper, it doesn’t translate to the screen. Judge is forced by his final act to devolve into a distracting resolution that feels clunky and certainly isn’t funny – its barely even interesting. This said, the satirical points forwarded by this movie make up for the thin script and by the time the final act rolls around the film has made enough good moments to cover for its lousy resolution.
To sum up, this should have been a funnier film but it couldn’t be more pertinent. Judge makes some strikingly salient points about the condition of our culture but fails to balance them with his usual biting humor.
I will end by pointing out that the best way to enjoy this film is to watch it and then quickly make your way to the closest Wal-Mart. The similarities are creepy.
Cautions: The film has plenty of foul language and sexual references - just like you get when you hang around real life stupid people.
For fun, here are some commercials for the very real energy drink Brawndo. I think they do a good job of summing up the humor of this film.
Luke Wilson movies
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
Henry Poole is Here (2008)
Other Critic's Reviews:
Reel Film Reviews
Film Critics United
Labels: comedy, Dax Shepard, film, Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Mike Judge, movie review
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 8:00 AM
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May 31, 2009
Movie Trailer: Extract
Its from Mike Judge, so I'm seeing it.
The trailer itself doesn't back the film well. Judge's humor isn't evident and it seems more like yet another cobbled together comedy. Jason Bateman plays yet another frustrated, borderline middle-age guy, so we'll see if he breaks away from the pigeonhole he's created for himself. He certainly appears to be recreating his mope from Juno and Hancock. Its not a good sign that Ben Affleck is on board. The extra hair isn't going to help his inability to act. He'll just be Ben Affleck hammering through his lines through a scruffy beard. Maybe he'll shock and actually be funny, but it would be the first time he's brought anything to a film other than his looks.
There's doesn't appear to be much here. I give it a chance purely because its from Mike Judge. The man is a fine talent and has a knack for character. We'll see.
Screenwriter: Mike Judge (Idiocracy)
Director: Mike Judge (Office Space)
Actors: Jason Bateman (Juno), Mila Kunis (Max Payne), Ben Affleck (Armageddon), J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man) and David Koechner (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy)
The trailer itself doesn't back the film well. Judge's humor isn't evident and it seems more like yet another cobbled together comedy. Jason Bateman plays yet another frustrated, borderline middle-age guy, so we'll see if he breaks away from the pigeonhole he's created for himself. He certainly appears to be recreating his mope from Juno and Hancock. Its not a good sign that Ben Affleck is on board. The extra hair isn't going to help his inability to act. He'll just be Ben Affleck hammering through his lines through a scruffy beard. Maybe he'll shock and actually be funny, but it would be the first time he's brought anything to a film other than his looks.
There's doesn't appear to be much here. I give it a chance purely because its from Mike Judge. The man is a fine talent and has a knack for character. We'll see.
Director: Mike Judge (Office Space)
Actors: Jason Bateman (Juno), Mila Kunis (Max Payne), Ben Affleck (Armageddon), J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man) and David Koechner (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy)
Labels: Ben Affleck, David Koechner, film, Jason Bateman, JK Simmons, Mike Judge, Mila Kunis, movie trailer
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 9:00 AM
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