Starring:
Ron Livingston as Peter Gibbons
Jennifer Aniston as Joanna
David Herman as Michael Bolton
Ajay Naidu as Samir Nagheenanajar
Diedrich Bader as Lawrence
Stephen Root as Milton Waddams
Gary Cole as Bill Lumbergh
Richard Riehle as Tom Smykowski
Alexandra Wentworth as Anne
Joe Bays as Dom Portwood
John C. McGinley as Bob Slydell
Paul Willson as Bob Porter
Kinna McInroe as Nina
Todd Duffey as Brian, Chotchkie’s Waiter
Greg Pitts as Drew
Special Features:
Out of the Office: An Office Space retrospective with Mike Judge
Deleted scenes: Peter Lies to Lumbergh, Happy Hour and Chotchkies, Peter Goes off on Nina, & Tom’s Mixed Heritage Called into Question
Theatrical trailer
DVD-ROM audio
Other Info:
Widescreen
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Spanish and French Languages
Spanish and French Subtitles
Running Time: 90 Minutes
Synopsis:
This film was originally released in 1999. The following is from the DVD cover:
“Unable to endure another mind-numbing day at Initech Corporation, cubicle slave Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston) gets fired up and decides to get fired. Armed with a leisurely new attitude and a sexy new girlfriend (Jennifer Aniston), he soon masters the art of neglecting his work, which quickly propels him into the ranks of upper management! Now the stage is set for Peter to carry out a high-tech embezzling scheme that’s sure to mean the end of his job and a one-way ticket to easy street. Can he pull it off before all corporate hell breaks loose?”
Office Space is rated R for language and brief sexuality.
The Movie:
Office Space is the little film from 1999 that has since turned into a cult hit for anyone that works in a corporate environment. Written and directed by Beavis and Butthead creator Mike Judge, the film perfectly captures the frustration, absurdity, and humor of the office culture. If you’ve ever worked in a cubicle, been subject to corporate bureaucracy, or had to deal with an annoying manager, then this is a movie you will want to check out if you haven’t already. The film also parodies such restaurants as Bennigan’s and Chili’s to great effect. To this day I can’t walk into one of those places without admiring the waiter’s mind-boggling amount of ‘flair’.
There are also a ton of great quotes in the film. You’ve probably heard one or two of them around your own office by now. Here’s a sampling of a couple:
Bob Porter: Looks like you’ve been missing a lot of work lately.
Peter Gibbons: Well, I wouldn’t exactly say I’ve been *missing* it, Bob.
Bill Lumbergh: Ahh, I’m going to have to go ahead and ask you to come in on Sunday, too…
Those are the ones that I can repeat here. You may want to note that the R rating is well deserved just for the language alone
The writing in the film is more memorable than the acting, but the film does have a very good cast. Jennifer Aniston gets most of the attention as Joanna, the waitress and love interest of Peter. However, the supporting cast generates a lot of the laughs. You have Diedrich Bader as Lawrence, the redneck eavesdropping neighbor of Peter. Then there’s David Herman as Michael Bolton. He certainly has a lot of rage built up despite his familiar name and nerdy exterior. Stephen Root plays the mild mannered Milton Waddams who is constantly used and abused by his coworkers. John C. McGinley also has a hilarious cameo as Bob Slydell, an auditor for the company that’s quite overbearing (and loves Michael Bolton, the singer). But Gary Cole really steals the show as Bill Lumbergh, Peter’s annoying boss. Ummm .yeah.
The Extras:
Despite this being the “Special Edition
.with Flair”, there are only two main bonus features on the DVD:
Out of the Office: An Office Space retrospective with Mike Judge This is a nearly half-hour feature on the making of the film. It contains new interviews with Ron Livingston, David Herman, Gary Cole, Stephen Root, and Ajay Naidu. (There is also footage from 1999 with Jennifer Aniston.) They talk about what it was like filming the movie, their ideas behind the characters, and the reactions to the film since. They have a lot of really funny stories and they even include a few alternate takes of scenes, most notably John C. McGinley going on and on about how much he loves Michael Bolton. The original Office Space cartoon by Mike Judge is also shown in bits and pieces.
Deleted scenes There are four deleted scenes. The first features Peter lying to Lumbergh about why he wasn’t in his cubicle at 10 am. The result is that his manager requires him to alert anyone when he leaves his cubicle to go to the bathroom. The second deleted scene features Happy Hour and Chotchkies where Peter talks about how long he could survive without working. He has calculated down to the minute how long till he’d be evicted from his apartment. In another scene Peter goes off on Nina and tells her to answer the phone a little differently to make the next 20 years of his life less a little less annoying. Finally, there’s a scene entitled “Tom’s Mixed Heritage Called into Question”. In it, the Bob’s debate the origin of Tom’s surname.
The Bottom Line:
If you already own Office Space on DVD, then there’s not much here that makes it worth buying again. But if you’ve never seen it and you work in a corporate environment, this is worth checking out.
