Extract review
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Extract
Miramax
R 90 min
From BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD, to KING OF THE HILL to OFFICE SPACE you have to admit that Mike Judge has a pretty sharp eye for human nature.
While B and B’s outrageous situations were hilarious in the groundbreaking cartoon series it’s pretty clear to see that these slackers were assembled from pieces/parts of real kids.
Anybody who ever had a straight job in an office or restaurant sees the reality beneath the comedy in OFFICE SPACE.
The same thing holds true with EXTRACT. Judge’s gimlet eye is trained on a mundane place stocked with characters that seem familiar to us. Then he fits it all into a bizarre comedy.
This one’s about Joel, (Jason Bateman) a regular guy, who owns a small company that makes flavoring extracts.
His partner (J K Simmons) is one of those condescending jerks we’ve all worked for and his employees are a potpourri of slackers complainers bigots self proclaimed big shots and regular mugs that we’ve all worked beside.
As it turns out Joel’s marriage is in a rut. In fact he’s frustrated at the, uh, lack of intimacy. That’s when a remarkably hot, and apparently available temp (Mila Kunis) shows up for work.
The downside is that she’s a con artist and a damn good one.
Now Joel’s best friend and spiritual advisor (Ben Affleck) is one of those pals wives just hate. His advice for just about every marital woe is to go out and get laid and Cindy the temp looks like the prime target. , Unfortunately Joel feels guilty so he hires a young stud to seduce his wife.
If she goes for it, well, no harm no foul, right? Ahh not really.
Anyway I’d hate to spoil the fun as this plot takes a lot of unexpected turns.
Remember that Judge isn’t the kind of guy to file the rough edges off the comedy so be prepared for a few “Man I wasn’t expecting that” moments.
I don’t often like black comedy but this one is just light enough to be appealing.
You’ll end up liking almost all the characters, though rocker Gene Simmons as a ruthless PI attorney is a pretty loathsome dude.
It’s a little shaggy around the edges with a decidedly indie look and feel, but EXTRACT is different and funny enough to take a chance on.
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WSS
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