Saturday, September 12, 2009

Extract

imdb link Photos
Plot: Joel (Jason Bateman) runs a flavor extract factory, which has bickering factory workers, and during a spat Step (Clifton Collins) gets injured. Cindy (Mila Kunis) a cute con artist, hooks up with him so he can collect settlement money. Meanwhile friend Dean (Ben Affleck) hires a gigilo to seduce Joel's wife Suzie (Kristen Wiig). 

Review: The most distinctive part of this movie is its wry ironic attitude -- something not everyone will appreciate. All the people in this movie are strange & colorful -- except Joel, and this strange world rotates around him. Ben Affleck, JK Simmons, Gene Simmons, and Kristen Wiig all give good performances and are fun to watch.

There is a lot going on in this movie, but it is not always a funny "ha ha" movie; more of a thoughtful comedy that has farcical, absurd situations. It is like a Coen brothers movie in that respect.

The final scene is funny -- worth the setup.

Cast: Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Ben Affleck, Kristen Wiig, Gene Simmons, JK Simmons

Written and directed by: Mike Judge

Rating: 3.0 flasks




More: There has to be a clever "writerly" reason that this is set in an extract factory, but I don't know what it is.

Even More: I wish people would stop comparing this movie to Office Space. What does that have to do with this movie?