Mike Judge’s notoriety began with “Beavis and Butt-Head” in 1993, which was then followed by “King of the Hill” four years later. His most notable feature film outing would have to be Office Space in 1999, and while that film didn’t make a dent at the box-office, it gained him an impressive following once it hit home video. From there he went on to direct Idiocracy, which again found a cult following, albeit a much, much smaller one, and now we have Extract, a film you can feel Judge lovers wanting to adore, but are having a hard time. It’s clearly his most pedestrian feature to date and a lot of the ambition seems to be absent.
Starring Jason Bateman as Joel, the owner of Reynold’s Extract, this film isn’t much more than a “Beavis and Butt-Head” and “King of the Hill” mash-up. While I found humor in “Beavis and Butt-Head” when I was 16, and can still find passing amusement in “King of the Hill” should nothing else be on, coming out of Extract thinking “that wasn’t too bad” is about all the energy I can muster. Extract has its moments of enjoyment, but it just doesn’t work on a very large level.
The highlights of the film primarily come from Bateman, who was made to deliver Judge-written dialogue and Ben Affleck who plays Dean, a half-baked bartender intent on getting Joel high and helping him out with his problems on the home-front. While Joel has been working hard building Reynold’s from the ground up, his sex life with his wife (played by “SNL” star Kristen Wiig) has slowed to a crawl. After a night of drinking and a horse tranquilizer, Dean’s suggestion that he hire a gigolo to seduce her begins sounding like an idea worth considering. The theory is that if she cheats, his conscience is cleared to do the same with the hot new temp (Mila Kunis) at the plant. Everybody wins. Right?
Of course, the plan set in motion to dupe his wife is only the start of Joel’s piling problems. Most important would be Step (Clifton Collins Jr.), one of the Reynold’s Extract factory workers, who just lost a testicle due to a most unfortunate work accident. As a result, the potential lawsuit may mess up a deal he is trying to swing with General Mills to finally sell the factory and get out of the business, not to mention most likely bankrupt Joel ruining everything he’s worked his whole life for.
Extract is a blue-collar film filled with all the components that have made up Judge’s comedy to date. Outside of Joel, the rest of the characters in this film could easily be found in either “King of the Hill” or “Beavis and Butt-Head.” You have the eclectic bunch working the line at the factory and when Joel goes home he is consistently forced to deal with your choice of a moron plucked out of “King of the Hill,” who also serves as one of the reasons Extract suffers from a lack of originality.
Nathan, the kind of nosy neighbor all of us have had to deal with at one point in our lives, is played by David Koechner whose talents fit right in with what Judge is looking for, but he goes to the well over, and over, and over, and over again. Nathan’s appearances in the film are initially comical, but grow increasingly tiresome. There is a good payoff in the end, but it comes about 60 minutes too late. On the other hand, Gene Simmons plays Step’s saw-your-commercial-on-TV lawyer, and sells it pretty well, but again it is Bateman that makes the moment work as much as everyone else is playing second fiddle throughout.
Unfortunately, Extract isn’t a film you can champion as much as you can just tell people it isn’t all that bad. Judge has a comedic talent that leads us to believe we are going to get something more. Instead, we only get tastes with this film, which does offer up some laughs, but at the same time it almost felt like Judge was trying to make a movie that would finally sell to a larger audience as opposed to one that spoke to his own sensibilities.
