Product: Office Space (1999)
Rating: 5.0
Gimme some Space! With flair!
If they ever decided to make a live-action "Dilbert" movie, it might resemble "Office Space."There's a lot of the same bitter surreality infused in this hysterically funny office film by Mike Judge (of "Beavis & Butthead" fame), all about three rebellious office employees who have finally had enough. Filled with quirky characters and a hilarious employee rebellion, this is a movie for anyone who ever felt trapped in a soul-destroying job. Which is just about everybody.Peter (Ron Livingston) spends every day in a cubicle, doing pointless work under the thumb of his smarmy boss Bill Lumbergh (Gary Cole). His life is boring, and he doesn't even have the confidence to tell a waitress (Jennifer Aniston) that he likes her.Because layoffs are impending, Peter accompanies his controlling girlfriend to a hypnosis session, and is instructed to relax. Unfortunately, the hypnotist dies of a heart attack... while Peter is still under his hypnotic influence. And nobody snaps him out of it. The next morning, Peter wakes up happy and laid-back -- and determined to get out of his rotten job, and live fat and happy.He conspires with fiery Samir Nagheenanajar (Ajay Naidu) and the ill-named Michael Bolton (David Herman) -- two coworkers who are about to be axed -- to skim money off the company's assets with a secret computer virus. Only problem is, their scene is rapidly spinning out of control when the virus goes glitchy haywire -- and their scheme is threatened with exposure."Office Space" started off as an early 90s animated skit, featuring the character of Milton. You know, that increasingly deranged employee who complains that "you took my stapler." This time, Milton is a minor character, although a pivotal one. The focus is mainly on the mellowed-out Peter and his wild scheme to profit the downtrodden employees of Initech -- sort of like a crazier version of "The Office."And Judge knows how to wring all the bitter comedy from this scenario. He creates a hysterical tangle of cubicle workers, layoffs and the most annoying boss in the history of film ("Yeeeeeeaaaahhhh... uhhhhhhh..."). There's a less interesting subplot about Peter's unstable relationship with the equally POed-about-her-job waitress, but the real draw here is all the corporate cheating and craziness.This brand of humor is twisted, down to the slow-motion, ghetto-style beating of the copier in the middle of a field, and Peter receiving a raise because he no longer cares if he gets fired. And of course, the dialogue is quietly insane ("Oh, and next Friday... is Hawaiian shirt day...") as the plot grows grows more and more tense... until you know someone has to snap. You can see who it is way in advance, but it's no less hilarious when it happens -- with disastrous consequences.The trio of lead characters are a riot -- there's Peter, whose newfound perspective about what is important in life is immensely entertaining. There's Samir, who can barely restrain his simmering rage at his rotten job, or his deep hatred for the copier. And there's Michael, who has a seething resentment that he has the same name as THAT sappy singer. As for Cole, he's utterly brilliant as a boss who is as endearing and appealing as a rake on a chalkboard."Office Space" has become something of a deserving cult classic -- funny, strange, and sympathetic to the ants that toil in their cubicles. When you aren't laughing your butt off, you'll be cheering on the disgruntled salami-slicers.