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| Office Space
Year: 1999
Directed:
- Mike Judge
Actors/Actresses:
- Ron Livingston
- Jennifer Aniston
You'll watch it over and over and laugh more each time...
I gave this tape away as Christmas presents and bought a copy for myself, as well.
First time I saw it, I had hit play on the VCR not knowing this movie (Office Space) was in the machine. (it was my daughter's rental - I'd never heard of it)
The opening scene is a traffic jam where an old man on a walker (beside the roadway) is making more forward progress than Peter (Ron Livingston) in his little Toyota. You *feel* his pain...
That is how Peter's day begins.
From there, we go to problems with "The Memo" and the cover page for the inter-office report and of course, some copy machine issues and on and on. (the copy machine does finally get what it *richly* deserves)
The whole scene about "the red stapler" is just classic comedy. One of the top 10 funniest scenes in cinematic history.
However, the drywall installer (played by Diedrich Bader) steals the show. Peter asks him "What would you do if somebody told you 'I think someone has a case of the Mondays?'" to which the drywaller gives a fair, honest and accurate answer. HILARIOUS!
This is comedy.
There are many wordy-dirds throughout the flick, but if you can get past those, you have a hilarious movie.
In our own family, the classic lines of "Office Space" have become part of our own vernacular...such as "What's Happening?" and "I was told I could play my radio..."
We *loved* this movie. This is too good to rent. You'll need your own copy to watch again and again.
In summary - it is intelligent, subtle and thoughtful humor. Looks like it was written by someone who has quite an understanding of life in the cubicle, because the whole flick has MANY elements of truth!
Okay then, but just don't forget.
If you've ever worked in a tiny cubicle, pushed papers, and fought a worthless fax machine in an attempt to earn a living, you will love this movie. OFFICE SPACE is a hilarious movie that deconstructs everything that makes an office worker's life so miserable: from morning traffic, to catch phrases (it looks like somone has the Moondays), to bosses that totally ignore their workers. This movie had a low budget, but Mike Judge is a brilliant filmmaker. He takes a relatively unknown cast and is able to milk hilarious, yet totally lifelike performances from each actor and unites everything together in a coherent conceptually comedy masterpiece (e.g. the fax-beating scene with the ganster music playing is just pure brilliance). Of course, the film says a lot about the actors as well, they don't seem to be just characters or caricatures: they seem like real people. There is no sex, relative little violence (well, there is a lot of violence toward inanimate objects), and relatively little cursing words (most of the foul language comes from the film's soundtrack). A movie that's destined to become a modern comedy classic.
Much better than the preview!
When the ads for this movie came out I figured it was another generic, tired, '90's comedy. How wrong I was. I only saw it recently when a number of my friends recommended it. I watched it on cable for the 1st time and was laughing hysterically throughout. This film pokes fun at "fitting in", which is the most important part of American business next to profits. Each character is an individual who doesn't fit in the system, be it the rap-loving Michael Bolton, or the TPS-report hating Peter Gibbons. The 2nd half of the movie moves dangerously close to becoming bogged down in a rather stupid crime crusade, but it's rescued by the antics of Milton, a hilarious character who appears regularly throughout the film. I only wish the film company had done a better job promoting this movie; it's much funnier than the ads make it seem. After my friend and I watched the DVD edition of the film we took time to watch the theatrical trailer. We both agreed the trailer was very weak compared to the film itself and probably kept a number of potential viewers away.
One of my favorites
If you work in an office, chances are you will relate to this movie in many ways (at the very least, we can all relate to wanting to beat our printers to death with baseball bats).
From the creator of Beavis and Butthead - Mike Judge, Office Space is a classic comedy. I personally look forward to every single scene as the movie is full of hilarious characters.
You have the over-the-top performance of Gary Cole as the boss Bill Lumbergh who always has a coffee cup in hand and prefaces each setence he speaks with "Yeeeeaaaaahhhhh". Then there's Milton (who this movie was actually based on), a weird mumbling character who's main concern is what kind of stapler he has. But this is only the beginning. Computer geeks who love rap music, neighbors who talk through walls, old guys afraid of getting laid off, annoying super-hyper waiters, drug-addicted magazine salesmen..... this movie has it all.
Oh, and Jennifer Anniston is in it!!
This is one of my favorite comedies of all time. Highly reccommended!
"In a given week, I only do about 15 minutes of real actual work."
Buy Office Space at Amazon.com
Buy posters at Allposters.com
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