Directed by: Mike Judge
Starring: Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck, Kristen Wiig, Clifton Collins, Jr. Mila Kunis, Dustin Milligan, David Koechner, Gene Simmons
Mike Judge, creator of Beavis and Butthead and terrific movie satires like Office Space, gives us an uneven and sometimes funny comedy about people who go out of their way to make things hard on themselves. Our protagonist is the sexually frustrated owner of a bottling plant who finds himself in lust with new employee Cindy(Kunis) who is secretly involved with one of Joel's employees who was involved in a most-gruesome work-related injury. Joel is married to Suzie (Wiig), and their marriage has devolved into routine dullness and not much sex.
Joel's bartender friend Dean (Affleck) poses a solution to Joel's moral dilemma: Joel doesn't want to outright cheat on Suzie, but if Suzie is seduced by a "gigolo" hired by Joel, then Joel will be free to pursue Cindy because Suzie already cheated. It's Mike Judge-universe morality and logic writ large, with erratic results. Joel is being wooed to sell his company, but the workers comp case may hinder that, especially with the employee's ambulance chaser attorney (Simmons) who suggests a bizarre way to have the case dropped. It involves a door and Joel's testicles.
Meanwhile, the gigolo posing as a pool boy indeed succeeds in seducing Suzie. It would've been funnier if the gigolo only thinks he seduced Suzie but maybe seduced the neighbor. Joel tries to call off the gigolo, who thinks he and Suzie are falling in love. There are many moving parts in Extract, and the actors are up to the challenge, but the fault lies at the plot or screenplay level. It's not as funny or stinging as it needs to be, but hey it's better than the overrated Idiocracy.
No comments:
Post a Comment