182: Extract

Extract (R) - 2009 - Runtime: 92 minutes
Starring: Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Ben Affleck, Kristen Wiig
Director: Mike Judge

This is kind of the perfect movie for me - Mike Judge is directing (the genius behind Office Space and the underrated Idiocracy), Jason Bateman is the lead (he's so dreamy!) and a whole cast of some of my favorite comic actors right now (Kristen Wiig, Mila Kunis, J. K. Simmons) and even Ben Affleck is awesome, who's had a pretty good year in my opinion, even if his box office doesn't reflect it. So it's no surprise that this movie made me laugh a lot and I hope Judge can keep churning out movies like this, because they're exceptionally good.

Jason Bateman plays Joel, owner of his own flavor extract company and at a bit of a crossroads in his life. He's dealing with a possible lawsuit at work, trouble with his wife and on top of that, just managing his company through a possible buyout also. It's in this environment that Mike Judge works so well: the regular workplace. He's not afraid to let his characters react normally to some of the crazy situations that are happening all around them. Despite the dick and fart jokes and stoner moments, this is a very smart and well-done comedy with a lot of good actors at the top of their game.

Every single character seems slightly absurd, but not too far from reality. Jason Bateman does what he does best - play the sane character around a battalion of slightly off-kilter characters. One of which is Ben Affleck, who plays Dean, his pro-drugs best friend. Somehow Joel takes his advice - which seems absurd, but Joel is just looking for someone to guide him through his problems and Dean's the only one who's offering. Joel is having problems with his wife, who seems to have no interest in him anymore and decides, with Dean, to hire a gigolo to seduce his wife, played by Kristen Wiig. He leaves the bait and takes it, more than a dozen times, to be exact. On top of that Mila Kunis plays Cindy, a con artist looking to score big on a potential lawsuit with Joel's company and tries to seduce her way through the movie. All of these crazy situations come together pretty cleverly and if it was anyone other than Mike Judge, I think the movie could have gotten out of hand - but he keeps things grounded in this very real community and work place he's created. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the brilliant performance by David Koechner as the most annoying neighbor on the planet.

It's a pretty hilarious movie and the ending may seem a little weird, but I thought it ended perfectly. It's going to end up being a cult classic, I'm sure. Keep 'em coming, Mr. Judge.

Rating: Buy It!