Customer Reviews

Extract

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I've been waiting or this movie. Loved Office Space, even really enjoyed Idiocracy. I heard some mixed reviews which tempered my expectations, but even so, this was a disappointing and very uneven movie.

Jason Bateman plays his straight-laced, deadpan comedy to the hilt, much as he did in Arrested Development. He is Joel, the owner of a factory employing a real assortment of underachieving, funny characters. With an offer from General Mills to buy the plant and make him rich, Joel looks forward to early retirement. On the home front, he is a sexually frustrated husband with an unreceptive wife and an unrelentingly dull neighbor.

With moments of genius, the movie was also dragged down by some poor realization of comedic potential. Kristin Wiig, a funny and versatile comedienne, is wasted as the housewife, and although she certainly has enough scenes, the writing doesn't allow her to perform.

The various subplots didn't mesh as well as I expected. Instead of a complete tale, this felt like a few sitcom episodes woven together.

That said, there are some great scenes. You will never think about call-waiting again. The personal injury lawyer is fantastic. Ben Affleck does a fine job as the slacker friend.

In retrospect, this is a rental. I wouldn't choose to pay theater prices for this film.

OK, EXTRACT does not have a slap stick type of humor. I get that. Also, EXTRACT is not as memorable as OFFICE SPACE. Understood. But one thing is sure, EXTRACT is still one of the best all-around movies I've seen this year. JASON BATEMAN is one of the funniest actors around these days. His subtle nuances are what makes him so funny. From TEEN WOLF TOO & HOGAN FAMILY to ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT & JUNO, he is a brilliant actor that gets laughs without ever changing his restrained sense of humor.

The movie itself is about a young, moderately successful factory owner. The factory produces, of course,food extract. The story unfolds and plans backfire, thanks mostly impart to his best friend played by BEN AFFLECK. The role for AFFLECK is a nice return for him back to his roots of doing less than award-winning blockbuster films. With KRISTEN WIIG in a somewhat toned down role and MILA KUNIS as a bit of a vixen, the supporting cast is really well-rounded.

EXTRACT is an intelligent, funny movie that must be seen. Unlike OFFICE SPACE which was from the employees point of view on how management can be annoying jerks, this movie is from the managements point of view on how employees can be annoying jerks. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!! 4+ STARS!

"Extract, directed by Mike Judge (King of the Hill), is about Joel (Jason Bateman) who runs an extract factory. He has his regular ups and downs just like anyone, but when one of his workers loses his testicle in a freak accident things start to go from bad to worse. (Spoiler alert for those who have yet to see the film) The next thing that happens to him is a con-woman named Cindy (Mila Kunis) begins work for him. Cindy convinces the testicleless employee to file a lawsuit against the company. Also, his wife hasn't wanted to have sex with him for months, and he takes some bad advice from his friend, Dean (Ben Affleck), and hires a pool guy to seduce his wife so that he can guiltlessly have an affair with Cindy, and before he knows it the pool guy is coming over everyday and has fallen in love with his wife. Then the employees decide that they should get a piece of the pie of his company, since he is thinking of selling it to a prospective buyer, and decide to go on strike.

"Extract" is like one of those bad months where one thing after another keeps happening to Joel. Joel is a nice guy, who has always tried to be good to people and do the right thing. He knows all of his employees names. He can't even bring himself to yell at the pool guy for continuing to visit his wife at his house. "Extract" is a pleasant little film that just keeps moving along with one amusing ill event after another. We wonder where this is all leading, because it looks like fate is against Joel. He is about to lose everything, his wife, his business, et cetera. But then there's a turning point where he realizes that Cindy is probably not as innocent as she seems. And as gently as misfortune had swelled over him, it then begins to subside, and all begins to fall back into place as before. This film washes gently over one as mildly and pleasantly as does Joel's kindly demeanor.

EXTRACT

STARRING: Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Ben Affleck, Kristen Wiig, J.K. Simmons, Clifton Collins Jr., David Koechner, Dustin Milligan, Beth Grant and Gene Simmons

WRITTEN BY: Mike Judge

DIRECTED BY: Mike Judge

Rated: R
Genre: Comedy
Release Date: 04 September 2009



Extract may not be the best comedy to a lot of people, but I don't think it could have been any better for me. I loved everything about it. The fact that someone has finally given Jason Bateman a leading role, was more than reason enough to see it.

Bateman plays a less than happy guy named Joel. Joel doesn't live the worst life, especially considering the fact that he owns his own business. But his life is still far from exceptional; especially to him.

For starters, his wife Suzie (Kristen Wig) wants nothing to do with him sexually. This is shown repeated times by instances where he has failed to walk in the door by the deadline; the deadline being the exact same time, every day, that Suzie puts on her sweat pants. Once the pants are on, they aren't coming off! Director Mike Judge adds a humorous close-up or two of her sealing Joel off from her sacred temple, by tying the loops of her sweats tightly.

Other than his long and dreadful days at his Extract Syrup factory that he runs, the main reason he can never seem to walk in the door in time is due to his insanely obnoxious neighbor. God, this guy drove me nuts and reminded me of so many irritating people, as will it no doubt do for you. The always funny David Koechner plays him perfectly and you want to strangle him within 30 seconds of meeting him. He's the guy that cannot take even the boldest hints that scream `I am not interested in what he has to say', and `you need to leave!' Met one or two of him before? I think we all have.

These are just the daily setbacks that Joel faces week in and week out. Things get even worse for him when there is a freak accident at work. One of his employees, Step (Clifton Collins Jr.), was severely injured and now has a potential lawsuit. I won't spoil the mishap with details, but I will tell you it develops from very humorous characters performing their job functions at a less than stellar performance level. Again, I'm sure we can all relate to this as well.

While all of this is going on, we have also met a beautiful woman who knows she's beautiful and uses it to con unsuspecting men. Mila Kunis plays the part of Cindy, very well. When she hears of Step's lawsuit, she comes a-running.

Cindy applies for a job at the plant and is hired. Before we know it, she has set plans in motion to seduce Joel and Step simultaneously. Desperate for the attention his wife fails to show him, he talks to his best friend for support in what he should do.

That best friend just so happens to be played by the legendary Ben Affleck. He had me in stitches in every scene. Affleck plays Dean, a bartender at a sports bar in the side of a hotel. He's kind of a hippie and he's kind of a player and he's totally believable. He has a shaggy beard and long wavy hair, in need of constant brushing from his eyes. Affleck added some really nice qualities to this character and should do more comedy. Upon meeting Cindy while visiting Joel at work, he delivers my favorite line in the film. While staring at her from Joel's office window, Joel tells him she's a temp and Dean turns suddenly with a look of genuine excitement and says, "She's a tramp?" It kills, trust me!

Joel confides in his pal Dean in hopes of gaining some helpful relationship advice. The advice that Dean offers him is less than canny and from there the movie spirals out of control and is effortlessly hysterical.

Mike Judge has a true gift for comedy. From his Beavis and Butt-head characters, to his instant classic Office Space, the guy brings us people we can relate to, laugh with and more fun importantly, laugh at. Extract has several of each.

From the creators of Office Space Office Space - Special Edition with Flair (Widescreen Edition) now comes Extract. A movie whose trailer left me wanting more. However when the movie arrived it turned out pretty much all the really funny scenes were in the trailer and the movie didn't add much more.

Yes, Jason Bateman is a funny guy. I mean, the guy played in Arrested Development Arrested Development - The Complete Series (Seasons 1, 2, 3) and thus we will always respect him. Yes, Mila Kunis is a very beautiful girl, and even Ben Affleck does a good job here. But the film never managed to hold my attention and charm me the way Office Space did. Office Space which just has a better atmosphere, more and better supporting characters and a better feeling inserted.

Extract has some funny moments, some very funny even, but as a whole it disappoints. The extras found on the Blu-Ray don't add much either.

Paul

This is a very well done film. Judge once again puts out a well done piece that dosen't seem to make much impact with critics and audiences. Office Space and Idiocracy are so much fun, and Extract continues that. Bateman is simply excellent in the lead role, perfect. Mila has really grown on me, she was "cute" for the 70's show, but I'm glad to see her moving up. One little nitpick I had with this was the "stoner" character. Don't know who played him, but he was too much like a skin head meth dealer, loud, obnoxious, violent, etc. Didn't seem like your friendly pot dealer dude. Good to see Affleck trying this role out, I like the job he did. So, overall, excellent film, the writing, acting, all very good. cheers.

True, this movie is not hilarious like Office Space,
but it's still great.
I've heard a lot of people rag on it, but it is
a very good movie. Great story, good cast.
Excellent entertaining 90 minutes.
It's like a long episode of King of the Hill,
so if you're a Mike Judge fan, you should like it.
Has some really funny stuff in it.

And I HATE Ben Afleck and he's even great in it.
Kristin Wiig can be annoying too, but she's good
in this and pretty hot I guess.

"Extract" is written and directed by Mike Judge and follows Joel, played by Jason Bateman who owns and manages an extract company. He deals with issues like assembly line worker stupidity, theft in the workplace, not getting action with his wife and being attracted to a new temp played by Mila Kunis. Joel tries to pay a jigalo (after being drugged by Ben Affleck) to have sex with his wife so he wouldn't feel guilty pursuing the new hot girl. Chaos always ensues.

I've loved Jason Batemen since Arrested Development and he is still the straight guy among idiots and his character is entirely too nice in this movie. I guess that's my big complaint on this one - he's nicer and more forgiving than any normal person, but darn it all I guess that's why we like him.

This movie was really funny and had a lot of ridiculous situations. I couldn't believe I liked Ben Affleck in this movie! He usually drives me nuts but here he was a character so different from the usual and with his appearance....I was able to almost forget it was Ben Affleck and laugh!

Other great additions to the cast, J.K. Simmons, Beth Grant whom I will always love from Donnie Darko, and Kristen Wiig who plays Joel's wife, Suzie. Also David Koechner plays a completely oblivious annoyingly pushy neighbor that you just love to hate. This was a fun ensemble piece and the best cameo of all -- Gene Simmons as a lawyer suing Joel for everything he's worth. If I tried to explain what was funny about this all, it would just give away too many jokes. Give this one a rental, you won't regret it. I bet it grows funnier with multiple viewings.

The problem with debuting with Office Space is that all of Mike Judge's subsequent efforts will end up being compared to it. The subtle humor, the lovable characters, the absurdity of it all is difficult to pull off even once. Yet with Extract, Mike Judge seems to have come very close to the original formula while managing to create a whole new set of characters, situations, and a plot that keeps the viewer interested. Yes, this is another work-related movie, but now the boss is a good guy, and it's really about him. Two separate story lines are reminiscent of that old adage about keeping work and personal life separate. When they intersect, all hell and hilarity break loose. Jason Bateman and JK Simmons do a wonderful job, and Ben Affleck is barely recognizable with the handlebar mustache and a proletarian affect.

Joel, the owner of an extract manufacturing plant, constantly finds himself in precarious situations that steadily worsen by the minute. First, his soon-to-be floor manager acquires a serious injury in a machine malfunctioning accident that subsequently endangers the wellbeing of his company. Second, his personal life doesn't fair much better when he takes the advice of his bartending friend Dean during a drug-induced brainstorming session on how to test his wife's faithfulness. Finally, compounding these catastrophes is new employee Cindy, who happens to be a scam artist intent on milking the company for all its worth. Now, Joel must attempt to piece his company and his marriage back together all while trying to figure out what he's really after in life. The story is fairly simple but eventful and effective. I laughed out loud several times. The running time is at 90 minutes. It makes for a nice movie.