Product: Office Space (1999)
Rating: 4.0
Funny look at the daily grind
This movie is a funny, sarcastic look at the 9 to 5 existence and what it does to all those working drones out there. Peter works at Initech, a generic company whose purpose is never really revealed, though we know it has something to do with cubicles and computers. His smug boss is asking him to come in on his weekend, his jumpy coworker Milton mumbles about keeping an eye on his Swingline stapler and threatens weakly to burn the building down if they move his desk just one more time, and to make everything worse, word is that the company is bringing in a consultant to make things more efficient (i.e. fire people). Understandably, Peter's feeling a little tense and burned out. His soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend urges him to see a hypnotherapist, who drops dead in the middle of the session, leaving Peter wrapped up in a much calmer attitude. Ironically, instead of getting him fired, this attitude impresses certain higher-ups in the company and Peter is promoted just as his buddies are about to get canned. Stuck between moving up and losing his friends, Peter and the guys hatch a scheme to embezzle company funds in such a gradual way that no one is supposed to find out. Things go a little wrong, but just as Peter is ready to give up and turn himself in, fate steps in and changes things in a way nobody expected.Anyone has ever held a job can relate to the humor in this movie, even if the job is not office-related (Peter's new girlfriend Joanna, for example, works as a waitress in a restaurant but also hates her irritating boss). The first few minutes of the movie show various characters braving rush hour to get to work. Who hasn't changed lanes in traffic, only to have that lane stop moving while cars in the old lane suddenly roar ahead? If you don't mind the rap soundtrack (I didn't care for it but the movie was good anyway) and quite a bit of swearing, you will probably enjoy this movie.