Product: Office Space (1999)
Rating: 4.0
When I grow up, I wanna file all day
A few years ago, monster.com instantly became famous with a Super Bowl commercial that featured a group of little children dreaming about growing up to hold unrewarding, miserable jobs. The kids said things like, "When I grow up, I wanna file all day...I wanna claw my way up to middle-management...I wanna be a Yes-Man." "Office Space" tells the story of a group of workers who hold such jobs.Peter, the film's lead character, suffers with the realization that his work has no meaning. To his company, the workers are simply cogs in the machine, interchangeable and unnecessary. Their salaries and benefits convince them that they cannot live without their jobs, so they pretend to love their work, constantly justifying and rationalizing employment that numbs the spirit.Peter describes his life as a never-ending string of days that continue to trump the previous with degrees of misery and angst. He comes to work late, avoids his boss and tries to do as little work as possible, taking pride in the hours each week he spends "spacing out" in front of his computer. He works with equally miserable employees who spend their days dreaming about destroying the copying machine and longing for the former model of stapler that the company once used.After a Jerry Maguire-esque epiphany, Peter decides office cubicle life is not for him and the action of the film is set in place. His rebellion against his place of employment creates an ironic twist, as his forthright disdain for the procedures and protocols of the company earns him a reputation for honesty and outside-the-box thinking.A subplot grows from Peter's infatuation with a local waitress who finds herself in an equally unrewarding job. Her boss paradoxically pressures her to seek individuality that conforms to other employees. She has no problem finding common ground with cubicle slaves who spend their days doing just enough to keep from getting fired.Politically, the film lashes out against jobs that force workers to constantly repeat tasks and procedures until they can do their jobs without thought. The duties drain workers of creativity and uniqueness, building a graveyard of zombie-like beings who spout out acronyms and lingo in robot-like monotones. Those familiar with this type of work environment will find the film to be painfully funny.