In his latest self-penned cinematic achievement, Mike Judge (Idiocracy) takes time out of his busy animation syndication schedule to show us how fragile we really are. The creator of Hank Hill, Butthead and Peter Gibbons returns to the big screen for the first time in three years with Extract.
In his third feature film, Judge paints a disfigured depiction of what middle class suburban lifestyle is truly like.
Jason Bateman (Hancock) plays the lead and disillusioned role of Joel. As the face, figurehead and owner of his own extract company, Joel struggles to sell the company and buy his way out of his life of monotony. Caught in a dead-end job and dealing with more sexual frustration than a mathlete at prom, Joel sees his life start to change for the worse.
This is before he meets Cindy, portrayed by the lovely Mila Kunis (Max Payne). Since she is much younger and much better looking than him, Joel becomes infatuated with her.
Finally taking a break from bad movies, Ben Affleck (State of Play) shines through as he brings Judge's Dean to life. Looking almost identical to Henry Ian Cusick's character, Desmond Hume, from ABC's Lost, Dean is Joel's bearded and burned out best friend, whose only thoughts seem to be about getting Joel wasted and messing up his life.
Dean is easily the stand out character in Extract. Every scene he's in is hilarious, especially when Affleck subtly pokes fun at himself for being the 'tall, good looking guy' that girls laugh at even when he's not funny.
Kristen Wiig (Adventureland) plays Suzie, Joel's lust-less wife. Bored and with a waning attraction, Suzie is a headache in sweatpants. After weeks without any intercourse, Suzie has got Joel looking to Dean for advice.
After popping a few pills and having a nice drink, all of Joel's principles and morals go straight out the window. This sets off a chain of events that only Judge could come up with.
J.K. Simmons (I Love You, Man) delivers another excellent role as Brian, Joel's second-in-command at the company. In a move that's a clear parody of company management, Brian has no clue as to what anyone's name is at the plant.
Simmons manages a great job in a strong supporting role by using the type of snippy comedy that has made him famous. Judge must have written the part with Simmons in mind.
David Koechner (The Goods) takes a step away from the southern-fried trailer trash he usually plays, standing out as Joel's monotonic, passive aggressive über-annoying neighbor Nathan. Nathan is quite similar to Bill Lumbergh, from Judge's Office Space, but Koechner hits home, literally, with the character that never goes away.
A major flaw with Judge's new creation is that Extract is too similar to Office Space. Nathan similar to Lumbergh, Dean is very similar to Lawrence, it's almost a bit too much. However, despite the fact that the free spirited and dim-witted character is nothing new, it is still executed with perfection.
Although some of the characters in Extract aren't exactly original, Judge does not disappoint. The plot gives its stars room to shine, with Jason Bateman showing off his comedic side that first appeared on Arrested Development and Mila Kunis continuing to grow as a comedian.
From 4-foot bongs to male prostitutes, Extract has everything needed to become a comedy classic. But hey, you be the judge.
E-mail: spectrum-arts@buffalo.edu
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