Office Space Review

Peter Gibbons, Ron Livingston, is a computer programmer with a boring 9-5 job at Initech Corp, where the staff are confined to small cubicles and the chief executive, Lumbergh, Gary Cole, is the kind of boss you can`t help hating. After a strange encounter with a hypnotist Peter is suddenly overcome with lethargy and makes no attempt to conceal his contempt for his job - strangely, his new attitude seems to work in his favour... Office Space is the first live-action feature by Mike Judge, who created Beavis and Butthead, and it`s a minor but generally pleasurable satire on the horrors faced by today`s twenty-something white collar workers. Judge`s well-developed screenplay seems to know what it`s on about - the satiric barbs mostly hit the mark. There are a few dull patches, and Jennifer Aniston, as the waitress with whom Peter finds romance, doesn`t add a lot to the film, but the minor characters are amusing and well portrayed, and I think a lot of people will find the jokes in the film relate to the workplace here in Australia as well as soulless California. Margaret`s Comments: Not being a major fan of animation I haven`t seen a lot of writer/director Mike Judge`s work which is very successful. He apparently adapted this film from three short animated films about Milton, the office ultra nerd he made for television. It doesn`t work in the long format. There`s humour here in recognisable situations we all face but once the story gets going with what plot there is total disinterest sets in. The most charismatic figure in the film is the ugly boss played with evil panache by Gary Cole, the rest of the characters were eminently forgettable, except for Milton. However one can only hope Judge is not inspired to swing a feature on him.