The creator of Office Space, writer-director Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-head), moves from cubicles to the assembly line with Extract– his outrageous return to workplace comedy, featuring a hilarious ensemble cast of quirky characters. About to sell his successful flavor extract company, life is almost sweet for Joel (Jason Bateman) until a freak on-the-job accident happens. Add to that his bored wife (Kristen Wiig), his laid-back, stoner best friend (Ben Affleck), a sexy con artist (Mila Kunis) who blows into town with dollar signs in her bedroom eyes, and a dumb gigolo and life as he knows it turns sour. Filled with laugh-out-loud one-liners and raunchy comedy, Extract is 100% pure hilarity. Starring: Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Ben Affleck, Mila Kunis, J.K. Simmons
Directed by: Mike Judge
Runtime: 92 minutes
Studio: Miramax Lionsgate
Amazon USAmazon UKIMDBReview: Extract
Mike Judge’s eventful comedy centres around Joel Reynolds (Jason Bateman) who owns Reynolds Extract, a successful company on the bring of a prestigious takeover. At home things are not great. Joel and his wife Suzie haven’t had sex for quite some time and the frustration is clearly getting to Joel. He turns to bartender and pot smoker, Dean (Ben Affleck), for advice and is offered drugs but initially refuses. Further problems arise for Joel when one of his employees, Step (Clifton Collins Jr), is injured at work and loses a testicle in an accident National Lampoon would have been proud of. Con artist, Cindy (Mila Kunis), learns about the incident and befriends Step, convincing him to sue Joel’s company for a large pay out she intends to get her hands on. She then gets employment at Reynolds Extract and Joel is immediately attracted to her.
While Cindy acts all innocent, she is pilfering purses and other goods from her colleagues while Joel is struggling to keep her out of his head. Dean advises him to hire a gigolo to seduce Suzie which then means Joel is free to pursue an affair with Cindy in revenge. Such is Dean’s logic. Joel initially dismisses the idea but after popping a pill he and Dean arrange some business with Brad (Dustin Milligan) who poses as a pool cleaner at Joel’s house. Joel doesn’t believe his wife will cheat on him but no sooner has Brad been to the house than he is contacting Joel to say Suzie was more than willing to have sex with him. That’s just the beginning of Joel’s problems and with a lawsuit from Step threatening to damage any hopes of his company being taken over and giving him early retirement things don’t look like they’ll improve anytime soon.
Extract may not have a plethora of laugh out loud moments but it still has a lot going for it. The quirky characters, the questionable intelligence of Dean, the lack of a brain cell in Brad, Joel’s struggles with both Suzie and Cindy, all these elements add up to what is an amusing experience. Even Gene Simmons gets in on the act though he’s missing the customary make-up and doesn’t stick his tongue out. A good effort.
Verdict: 3/5
(Film source: reviewer’s own copy)
About the Author:
I was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England and have always been a bookworm and enjoyed creative writing at school. In 1999 I created the Elencheran Chronicles and have been writing ever since. My first novel, Fezariu's Epiphany, was published in May 2011. When not writing I'm a lover of films, games, books and blogging. I now live in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, with my wife, Donna, and our six cats - Kain, Razz, Buggles, Charlie, Bilbo and Frodo.
David M. Brown – who has written 782 posts on Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave.
