Monday, September 14, 2009

Extract

Extract - Dir. Mike Judge (2009)


Writer/Director Mike Judge returns to the workplace comedy with Extract released to theaters in time for Labor Day. The creator of Beavis & Butthead had a cult hit with Office Space and Extract acts as a nice bookend. Where Office Space centered around cubicle dwellers and their soul-crushing dealings with white collar middle management, Extract is firmly planted in the blue collar world of manual labor as seen from the perspective of the boss.

Jason Bateman stars as Joel Reynold (no ‘s’), owner of Reynold’s Extract, a bottling plant that manufactures flavoring extracts. Much like Arrested Development, Bateman is once again the lone beacon of sanity immersed in a sea of stupidity, selfishness, and absurdity. Joel’s right-hand man is Brian (played to an understated tee by J.K. Simmons) can’t be bothered to learn anyone’s names and calls everyone, “Dinkus.” There’s the meathead forklift driver Rory (TJ Miller who played a similarly dim character in Cloverfield) who hands out flyers every day for his two-bit metal band. And there is a pair of hairnet wearing gossipers who blame everybody else for their own laziness. A confluence of idiocy leads to a Rube Goldberg-esque series of accidents to causes good ol’ boy Step (Clifton Collins Jr.) losing a testicle. On the verge of a lucrative buyout from General Mills, the accident is the last thing Joel wants to deal with. He’s also sexually frustrated by an apathetic wife (Kristen Wiig) whose drawstring sweatpants may as well be a chastity belt.

Along comes a beautiful, new temp, Cindy (Mila Kunis), who surprisingly takes a keen interest in learning more about flavor extracts. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Cindy is a con artist and convinces Step to sue the company so she can bilk him of the payoff. Joel’s bartender friend, Dean (a long-haired & bearded Ben Affleck) somehow convinces him to hire a gigolo to do his wife thus leaving Joel free and clear to have his own affair. The gigolo, Brad (Dustin Mulligan), is a blond and tanned surfer looking kid who might be the dumbest character in a cast full of morons.

The performances of said cast are good all around with one of the best being, Clifton Collins Jr., who is suddenly in every picture this year. He played a Romulan henchman in Star Trek, a sweet-natured one-armed store clerk in Sunshine Cleaning, and an over-the-top Latino mobster in Crank 2: High Voltage. As Step, Collins defines trailer trash with his greasy mustache, mullet, and trucker cap. I’ve always had a hard time taking Ben Affleck seriously in a dramatic role. He’s far more adept at these comedic supporting roles. Also watch out for rock star Gene Simmons as a loudmouth, ambulance chasing lawyer with a serious case of helmet hair. Meanwhile, Bateman winds up playing basically the same character as he has since his comeback. Kristen Wiig who has stolen scenes with only one or two lines (see Knocked Up or Ghost Town) isn’t quite as memorable despite her more substantial role.

Extract will inevitably be compared to Office Space and it stands in the shadow of its predecessor. Extract doesn’t offer up the same wit and insight as Office Space. While Judge has written some funny dialogue here, you won’t find any of the instantly quotable lines of Office Space. The comedy in Extract ranges from subtle to broad to pretty lowbrow, such as an extended scene where Bateman tries to smoke out of an extra-large bong.

Rating: ** ½

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Gamer

Gamer - Dir. Neveldine/Taylor (2009)


The purveyors of punk cinema and anarchic action, the duo known as Neveldine/Taylor wrote and directed Crank and Crank 2: High Voltage, two of my favorite guilty pleasures. Over-the-top, cartoonish, vulgar, and sophomoric, the Crank films were infused by video game conventions and sold like crack to today’s Red Bull generation. Neveldine/Taylor continues their brand of video game-infused cinema with Gamer, a film that acts as an updated version of The Running Man.

At some nebulous point in the future, mega-billionaire Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall) develops a form of nanotechnology that allows one person to control another via the internet. Castle initially uses this new tech for Society, think The Sims with real people. Here, folks are dressed in neon day-glo pimp raver fetish gear and forced to copulate, drug themselves, and laugh off grievous injury. Castle’s next big hit is Slayers, where Death Row inmates can win their chance at freedom by competing in a real life first-person shooter.

The biggest star of Slayers is Kable (Gerard Butler taking on the Jason Statham role) who is only three games away from becoming a free man. Kable’s only thoughts are for his wife Angie (Amber Valleta), a reluctant cast member of Society, and their daughter who was put into foster care. Of course, forces are working against Kable to prevent him from winning the game, not the least of which is Kable’s whiny rich boy controller.

Crank has all the trademarks of Neveldine and Taylor’s sledgehammer sense of plot. There’s the morbidly obese pervert who controls Angie in Society while dipping his foot in greasy vats of maple syrup. There’s Hall’s evil tycoon character whose acts of malevolence include world domination, a bad country fried southern accent, and wearing loafers without socks. The world of Slayers looks like a futuristic combination of Saving Private Ryan and Call of Duty while the action is shot with the usual handheld cameras and rapid-fire edits. However, Gamer has none of the breakneck energy of the Crank films. Neveldine & Taylor attempt to get more serious with Gamer by attempting to slow the pace and pile on the social commentary. The attempt falls flat on its face. It’s hard to take a dramatic turn when you’ve got Michael C. Hall leading a gang of goons in a song-and-dance number set to Sammy Davis Jr.’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.”

Gamer gathers together a strong cast with some surprising faces filling out the supporting cast. Neveldine and Taylor score their second failure in being unable to utilize any of them properly. Alison Lohman, hot off her lead role in Drag Me to Hell, appears oh so briefly as a member of a revolutionary hacker group. Zoe Bell pops in as a fellow Slayer only to get her head blown off a minute later. You’d figure if someone were to cast actors like Kyra Sedgwick or Heroes’ Milo Ventimiglia, they’d have them do something of note.

Gamer pales in comparison to District 9. It suffers from a poorly thought-out story full of bland action that builds to an incredibly anti-climactic ending. Sorry, but that dream match between King Leonidas and Dexter didn’t live up to expectations.

Rating: * ½