Slight
but amusing, Extract is the latest offering from writer/director Mike
Judge, best known for his animated creations, Beavis and Butthead and
King of the Hill, as well as the seminal cubicle comedy, Office Space.
Judge once again returns to the workplace, this time to a flavour
extract factory. Extract opens as we follow a beautiful thief using her
wiles as handily as a bank robber uses a gun, leaving a trail of
beguiled and poorer shopkeepers in her wake. Cindy’s entrée is
significant because she represents a conundrum for the earnest owner of
an extract factory. Joel’s manufacturing plant resembles more a halfway
house or the Island of Misfit Toys than a successful business judging by
the succession of ex-cons, dimwitted wannabe rock stars, gossipy
troublemakers and other unemployables who have found shelter and steady
income under Joel’s roof. Joel’s dedication to making the world more
flavourful has brought him the aggravations of running a dysfunctional
workplace and not taking enough care of things on the homefront. His
free evenings are spent in the company of drug-addled bartender, Dean,
complaining about his wife Suzy’s frustrating closed sweatpants rule.
Enter the seductive swindler, Cindy, who spots a goldmine in a news
article about Step, an employee of the extract plant tragically
emasculated in a freak accident. Cindy infiltrates the factory as an
employee, simultaneously cozying up to the wounded Step and tempting
lovin’-deprived Joel. Joel is too much of a mensch to take Cindy up on
her open-door policy and cheat on his wife, at least unless Suzy does it
first. Under the ill-advised guidance of dopey Dean, Joel agrees to
hire a would-be gigolo to seduce his wife, giving Joel the pass he needs
to make his move on Cindy. Not one to let the grass grow under her high
heels, Cindy’s words into the ear of her new inamorato, Skip change his
mind about suing the company for the accident and with Cindy’s guidance
teams-up with a skeezy lawyer for a huge payday for his damaged
manhood. Skip’s lawsuit also threatens the possible sale of the factory
to General Mills, a move that doesn’t sit well with the drones. All his
work troubles and Suzy’s unexpected attachment to the halfwit prostitute
makes Joel wonder why he ever went into the extract business in the
first place.
The
low-fi comedy of Extract made me feel as if I was watching an episode of
King of the Hill, which has rarely brought me to side-splitting laughs,
but am still somehow amused enough to enjoy it and compelled to catch it
often. All the cars in the film bear California license plates, but the
action might as well taken place somewhere in Arlen, Texas in light of
Extract’s homespun, lackadaisical pacing. The Tex/Mex rock all over the
soundtrack gives it away, too. The pulse of Extract lies almost
entirely in its great cast. I could tell way back when that that kid
from Silver Spoons was going to turn out to be a comedy genius. Bateman
has an innate everyman charm that keeps the audience with him even when
he’s being a heel. Bateman gets a bigger laugh by arching a sardonic
eyebrow than most physical comedians get in ninety minutes of twisting
limbs and slapstick. Judge’s off-the-cuff humour suits Bateman’s bone-dry delivery perfectly and together they create the spark the powers
Extract. There are good performances all around; notably Clifton
Collins Jr., again displaying his incredible disappearing act, buried
under prosthetics and ugly makeup as the hillbilly-ish Step. Adding JK
Simmons to any cast makes a film better and here he is as Joel’s
blustering factory manager proving me right. David Koechner is
practically a Mike Judge animated character come to life as Nathan, the
boorishly good-natured yet awfully creepy neighbour who’s too close for
Joel and Suzy’s comfort. Kristen Wiig, another truly funny person is
nicely understated as Joel’s adulterous wife. Ben Affleck in a hideous
porn star wig and ‘stache as Joel’s perpetually stoned bartender pal
once again bears out my theory that he should play supporting roles
forever; he doesn’t quite light up the screen but his comfort delivering
the funny to Jason Bateman’s straight man is apparent.
Extract feels less like a big-screen feature and more like a side
project for Judge and I wonder if this wouldn’t have had more punch as a
collection of FunnyorDie shorts. Mellow and off-beat, Extract’s big
lure is in Jason Bateman’s sterling performance as the overworked,
underappreciated businessman, if that isn’t enough to grab you - and it
should be - then wait for this to come to cable.
~ The
Lady Miz Diva
September 3rd, 2009
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