Review: Extract

Mike Judge, the creator of Beavis and Butthead, and the writer/director of the now cult classic Office Space, is back with his newest offering, Extract. The film stars Jason Bateman (Arrested Development) as Joel, a flavor extract factory owner who deals with a constant string of bad luck and shitty people. In that sense it is very similar to Office Space in its set up, so for fans of that it won’t be hard to dive into this world.

The film has many funny moments, and a lot of this is due to the supporting players around Bateman. Veteran character actor David Koechner (Anchorman, Thank You For Smoking) brings a gringe-worthy, but hilarious turn as Joel’s creepy neighbor. Ben Affleck (I think you know who he is) came into play a supporting role as Joel’s best friend Dean, and whenever he is on screen I couldn’t help but laugh; clearly he had fun with his role. Also, Mila Kunis doesn’t really have that much of a role, but every time she is on screen all the guys in the theater will be looking at her. But let’s not forget Bateman, who as he demonstrated in Arrested Development, can play the perfect straight man in an out of control world. He gives you exactly what you expect and is obviously the rock the movie is set on.

Despite those turns, and a story that is easily accessible, the film left me very confused about what I just watched. Most of this has to do with the last third of the film, which tries to tie up all of the story lines, but I feel Judge didn’t know how to end this so he put in a couple wacky things and hoped it would take. I obviously can’t give away much more, but suffice it to say that myself, and the people I saw it with, left confused.

Overall, I thought Judge had a good idea for a movie that was right in his wheel house, and brought in all the right actors to do it. If he could have figured out a tighter way to end the film, I think it could have reached another level.

Grade: C+ or ★★½ (Out of 5)