Office Space
	Director: Writer: Cast: Genre Release Date:	Mike Judge Mike Judge Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, Stephen Root , Gary Cole Comedy Romance 1999
Synopsis: Peter Gibbons, thanks to a hypnotic suggestion, decides not to go to work at the same time his company is laying people off. When layoffs affect his two best friends, they conspire to plant a virus that will embezzle money from the company into their account.

Did You Ever See... Office Space

 

Most famous for his work on Beavis & Butthead, Mike Judge took to both the director's chair and the writer's desk for this brilliant adaptation of his animated shorts based on the character Milton.

 

If you could just go ahead and watch Office Space as soon as possible, that'd be great.

What's particularly stunning about the hilarity Judge whisked up in Office Space is the mind-meltingly mundane scenario and characters. They were so normal, it was weird. These weren't heroes and heroines - these were fundamentally ordinary, blue collar dudes stuck in the same kind of life sucking, air conditioned drudgery we face everyday. Perhaps that's essentially the brilliance of this movie - it was so easy for the ordinary, working wage slave to identify with that we could fantasise, quite genuinely, about making that last ditch grasp at an enjoyable life; just as Peter Gibbons did. 

 

Pushed to the brink of seemingly inescapable mediocrity, the main character played expertly by Ron Livingston has an epiphany. While visiting an 'occupational hypnotherapist' at the whim of his distant, overbearing girlfriend, the therapist suffers a fatal heart attack immediately after hypnotising Peter. The result is a sudden and wonderful realisation of life for the downtrodden office jockey, and he's immediately resolved to begin doing whatever he wants with his own life.

   

Damn it feels good to be a gangsta.

I'm not usually one to sing the praises of a film cast, but in the case of Office Space, the entire ensemble work beautifully together to create an entire entorage of antagonists for poor Peter; from Gary Cole's immortal, passive/aggressive boss ("mmmmmm, yeah"), to the mumbling pyromaniac obsessed with Swingline staplers (and inspiration for the movie) Milton, played by Stephen Root. Even Jennifer Aniston creates a believably oppressed waitress in one of her earlier movie appearences.

   

Following Peter's revelation that life shouldn't be spent in an office cubicle, his open policy of carelessly shirking work is an inspiration to anyone who's ever suffered at the ignorance of a slimy manager and a soulless corporation. It also delves expertly into the suspicion we all harbour that dilligence and hard work get you nothing but more labour, while a selfish attitude and disregard for colleagues are the rungs of a ladder to the top. 

 

If you don't go and watch Office Space... I could set the building on fire.

Office Space never saw the critical acclaim it deserved on release; trickling out slowly and quietly. The UK never even recieved an official DVD release until just a couple of years ago, for which there's absolutely no excuse. Packed to the box lid with inspired catch phrases and disposable one liners that have since become the language of a cult following, there's no excuse at all for not giving this pride of place in your DVD rack.

   

Check out the trailer here, and use Office Space to remind yourself the work sucks. 

 

 

 

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