Although many films and TV shows have dealt with office politics through the years ("Working Girl," "Working") and others have played off the mechanical drudgery of "worker bee" employment and its effects on the worker ("Falling Down," "Joe Versus the Volcano," "Brazil"), the increasing depersonalization of the corporate world and its dehumanizing effects on the employees during the 1990's makes films such as this one that much more timely and easy to identify with.
Of course upon hearing that this film is helmed by the creative force behind "Beavis and Butthead," one might not expect more than a sophomoric look at such material. Yet, much to the surprise of this reviewer and probably anyone older than high school or college age, writer/director Mike Judge (who also created TV's "King of the Hill" and penned the animated "Milton" shorts from which this picture is adapted) actually does a decent job of handling the material in his first live-action feature.
That's not to say that it's a refined comedy by any means, and bits of the sophomoric touch do occasionally appear. Nonetheless, with a far-fetched but humorous premise of a disgruntled worker being left midstream in a hypnotically induced but unfinished nonchalant state, the film starts off with an amusing bang and features some funny observational bits regarding labor in a corporate cubicle.
Unfortunately, and despite some subsequently humorous moments, Judge stretches the film's skit-like concept to its limit trying to fill the ninety-some minute runtime. As such, the picture never quite lives up to the preset humorous potential introduced at the beginning and simply runs out of steam while meandering through what becomes a less than inspired comedy caper.
Before that, however, the film starts with a humorous opening that will ring true to anyone who deals with chronically congested commuting. It then immediately proceeds into some funny observational bits about working in the corporate world, and in particular, the office cubicle, and contains a fun scene where Peter tries to avoid his boss at the end of the day while impatiently waiting for his computer to shut down.
There's also a hilarious parody of an "execution" straight from an urban gangster film or music video -- albeit with a malfunctioning fax machine as the "victim." Amusing, but less successful bits include a character's dismayed reaction to having the same name as singer Michael Bolton, and a mumbling older nerd worker who's constantly moved around the office to the point of ending up in the basement.
The main plot element of Peter's newfound "work attitude" -- or more accurately, his attitude toward work -- offers some funny moments (such as his interview with several bean counters looking for any reason to eliminate his position), but unfortunately isn't always consistent throughout the production. He often waivers between indifferent confidence and cautious uncertainty and that discrepancy ruins the overall intended effect.
The performance by Ron Livingston ("Swingers"), however, is right on the mark and reminds one of a younger Tom Hanks (such as in "Joe Versus the Volcano"). Charming, funny, and perfectly playing the indifference (when in that mode), Livingston delivers a winning take as the disgruntled employee.
Not as good -- simply because her part is extremely underwritten and present merely as a romantic character -- is Jennifer Aniston (TV's "Friends," "The Object of My Affection") as the similarly disgruntled employee. Her employment dilemma -- having to meet a costume quota of "flair" at the restaurant where she works -- isn't as interesting or intriguing simply because she could easily find another waitress job, thus making what's supposed to be a story parallel come off as a weak comparison.
Supporting performers, David Herman, Ajay Naidu, Stephen Root and Diedrich Bader (as Peter's next door neighbor) are decent, but certainly not outstanding, although Gary Cole (who did a fabulous job emulating Robert Reed as Mike Brady in the "Brady Bunch" movies) is quite good as the smarmy boss whose sole responsibility seems to be walking around with his coffee mug and boring his employees.
Funny but rarely hilarious and never as good nor clever as it could and should have been, the film should still manage to connect with those familiar with life inside an office cubicle. Yet with its stretched-thin plot, a later tendency to abandon the observational humor for a weaker crime caper, and something of a too cautious approach that prevents it from ever getting properly outrageous enough, the film fails to completely "bring home the bacon."
Both the disc’s audio and video components are quite good, although the supplemental material — just the original theatrical trailer — is rather lacking.
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