Product: Office Space (1999)
Rating: 5.0
milton
MiltonIn Office Space, Milton is seldom ever taken seriously. He is constantly being taken advantage of. First of all, Lumberg never returned the stapler that he had asked for several times. Not to mention, he asked to keep his desk where it was so he didn't have to move it again, but instead, he was pushed into the dark basement. So, in return, Milton took advantage of Initech, the company where he worked.My brother, George, bought Office Space, a few years ago. He really gets a kick out of it because he, too, wishes that he could get paid for doing nothing. There are several parts in that movie that he finds humorous. One day, he and I even mimicked the movie by smashing a computer monitor with a baseball bat. And for him, that was pure fun. But while George liked Office Space from the start, I had to watch it two or three times before I really started to admire the film. Now, every time I watch it, I find something new to laugh about.Near the beginning of the film, Lumberg took Milton's red stapler- Milton's favorite stapler because it didn't back up. And Milton automatically started to panic as his eyes widened and he started mumbling about how the last time someone took his stapler, they didn't return it. But even with the shock on Milton's face, Lumberg ignored him; he would simply override Milton's voice and say his famous, "yeahhh." WhenMilton realized that Lumberg wasn't going to return the stapler, he even confronted the receptionist. She also ignored him.Taking Milton's stapler wasn't enough for Lumberg though. When Lumberg told Milton that he'd have to get ready to move his desk, Milton pleaded not to because he had already moved his desk several times. In fact, he once had his desk near a window, but was eventually moved to a smaller cubicle surrounded florescent lights. But Lumberg didn't even consider listening to Milton. Instead, he told Milton that he needed to move his desk into the basement as soon as possible because there wasn't enough room for him upstairs. Milton tried, again, to explain that he had already moved his desk so many times, and he didn't want to do it again. And once again, he was ignored, while Lumberg said, "yeah, if you could move it that'd be great." When Milton found himself sitting in the dark basement, that's when he decided that "that was the last straw." Milton was getting so angry lately that he even threatened under his breath that he'd burn the building down.So in return, Milton decided to give Initech a little taste of what he was really capable of. He was going to tell Lumberg that he was taking his stapler back. When he charged into Lumberg's office to retrieve his stolen property, the audience were led to believe that he discovered the money stolen by Peter, Michael and Samir, because he walked into the office in the scene right after the scene where Peter puts an envelope with the money under Lumberg's door. Then, I can only assume that he burns the building down as promised earlier in the movie because the building is burnt right after the scenewhere Milton stumbles upon the envelope. Milton then vacationed on a hot, sunny beach without a care in the world. And he was living Peters dream - Milton was doing nothing.So throughout the whole movie, we were led to believe Milton was just an unattractive man who could be stepped on by anyone. We watched other people judge him, and we began to judge him too. But we were proved to be wrong about him; he's not as stupid as he seemed. He was bright enough to take the money without any remorse and simply go on vacation. And now, he had the power to boss other people around; now he could get what he wanted. He, the one who had been taken advantage of, was now taking advantage of others. He was the one who prevailed.