Product: Office Space (1999)
Rating: 4.0
Comic Relief for Frustrations Near to Our Hearts!
Well, I've heard about this cult classic film since I began working in corporate America. It seemed that everyone quoted this movie, from the "Didn't you get the memo?" to the famous fax machine scene.I finally got my turn with it last night and was in tears with laughter. The opening scene with gridlock traffic voiced the pain of millions of commuters and showed the promise of more venting to come in the movie. With my recent move to cubicle land, I was ready and waiting.To my surprise, this movie actually had a plot. They developed very humorous office parody in the opening scenes, but I expected that parody to go on for a long time. Instead, the movie introduces the 3 parallel storylines:- anticipated lay-offs at work with consultants being brought in- Peter's experience with a career hypnotherapist (he's the main character)- Milton's being pushed to the brink of insanityAs the story unwinds, the characters show what ordinary people can do when put in almost inhuman conditions - working on top of people, boring work that doesn't really contribute to anything, inane bosses, an absence of any incentive to work harder, having 8 different bosses, lay-offs not based on merit, being asked to move cubicles continually, etc.More than anything, I appreciated the films ability to continually laugh at itself. When the 3 main computer science guys consider money laundering, they have to look it up in the dictionary...and they ask how smart guys like them can be so bad at crime when so many stupid people in the mafia are so good at it. These guys are who we would be if we were stuck in that situation. Sure, we've heard all about money laundering and such, but who knows how to actually do it?While the movie winds down to a predictable and satisfying ending, I think it works well for this film. I don't think the magic of the film is its proposing an answer for the white collar worker. (Ditch digging anyone?) Instead, I think the genius of it was to express and magnify to humorous proportions the lives of many Americans. It does this well, and thus earns four stars (especially when all the swears are bleeped out).