Review: Extract

A post by "Blake the Megalomaniac" To see more posts click here

Mike Judge’s propensity for developing good content is undeniable:  King of the Hill, Office Space, and Beavis and Butt-head though they weren’t the most sophisticated of offerings they were reality-based parodies of the world (if there is such a thing).

Extract didn’t hit that ‘reality-based’ mark.  Nothing about the movie seemed real or believable.  Possibly, reality wasn’t Judge’s aim but if it wasn’t then he should have spared us this movie.

Extract centers around working-class men and women in a factory setting who, though ornery, aren’t terribly dysfunctional.  Throw in an ensemble cast of main characters with torrid personal lives  and a touch of con-artistry and voila.  Jason Bateman stars as the movie’s leading man, perpetuating the easy-going but nondescript sort of way about him.  He can make you laugh, unintentionally, but usually isn’t funny and wasn’t funny in Extract as the founder and leader of an extract company.

We loved Office Space because it was the first movie that successfully paralleled a typical workplace experience.  A factory worker’s experience is way more unique though and to replicate it in cinema form would be difficult but if anyone could do it then it would presumably be Judge. However, Extract’s factory scenes came off as forced and the supporting characters seemed hackish.  The closest movie I can think of that resembles Extract is Employee of the Month with Dane Cook and Jessica Simpson and even that movie was better thought out and more well-planned than Extract.

Ben Affleck’s role, as best friend, barkeep, and “healer”, wasn’t limited to a cameo but an onslaught of Ben, whose focus and career alike seem to be headed nowhere, making a lowly attempt at comic relief, in what should have been a comedy mind you.  Affleck would have been a more welcomed sight if we hadn’t before seen him drop his “star power” into a lesser known film (think Smokin’ Aces or Clerks II).

Mila Kunis was also in the movie with a substantial role but it’s not worth going into.

Overall, Extract brought little to the table.  While it wasn’t insufferable, it wasn’t original nor did it teach us anything, not that it should have, but it wasn’t funny either and if you’re making a comedy and it’s not funny nor do we learn anything then you’re wrong.  See it for yourself to be sure. I should have seen District 9.

udothedishes . . .