THE AISLE SEAT - "OFFICE SPACE"
by Mike McGranaghan
I stood outside the multiplex looking at the poster for Office Space before going in. It shows a man covered head-to-toe with Post-It Notes, and the tagline reads, "Work Sucks." I chuckled to myself. I had a feeling I was going to like this one.
Like millions of Americans, I have worked an office job that often drove me crazy (to protect the innocent, I won't get specific). And while I no longer work that job, I still understand the frustrations of a workplace in which nothing works - not the copier, the fax, the computers, even the system sometimes. You slave all week, but you never get a raise or even a thank-you. You try to do the best job you can, but no one appreciates your efforts. No wonder so many people get paid to sit around and play Solitaire on their Windows 95.
To borrow a quote from Dennis Miller, I don't want to get off on a rant here. But this is exactly what Office Space is about, and it's also why I liked this film. Ever hated a job? Here's the movie for you.
Ron Livingstone (Swingers) stars as Peter, a worker at Initech Corporation. His job is to search endless streams of computer code looking for one little line that, when changed, will make the programs compatible with the Y2K problem. His boss is a jerk named Lumbergh (Gary Cole), who hides his dictatorial style beneath a phony gee-whiz passivity. His co-workers include one guy saddled with the unfortunate name of Michael Bolton ("Why should I change my name? He's the one who sucks!") and a nutcase named Milton ("NewsRadio" star Stephen Root). Milton sits in his cubicle mumbling to himself all day about the insulting way the company treats him. He constantly threatens to "set the building on fire" in retaliation.
Peter is stressed out by his work, and goes to a therapist who hypnotizes him. The therapist dies before he can bring Peter back out of the trance, and as a result, Peter now approaches his job with a "who cares?" attitude. Through a series of events, he is not fired but promoted; later on, he schemes with his co-workers to infect the company's computer system with a virus that will casually skim money from its accounts. Meanwhile, he meets and falls in love with Joanna (Jennifer Aniston), a waitress at a TGIFidays-type restaurant who gets in trouble with her boss for not wearing enough "pieces of flair" (i.e. those buttons that all Fridays employees wear on their suspenders).
First of all, let me say that I eat at TGIFridays every chance I get, and - as much as I like the food and atmosphere - those pieces of flair annoy me. The waiters and waitresses always look like they're going to tip over from the weight of all those buttons. I will think of this movie whenever I eat there from this day on. Someone had to point out the absurdity of "flair," and this picture is brave enough to do it.
Second, I think Office Space has a lot of laughs in it, especially in the scenes in which Peter starts rebelling against his workplace. By the time he and his buddies took the copier into a field and smashed it to bits, I was really enjoying this movie. It has a lot of observations into the fact that many people hate their jobs and feel powerless to strike back. To be honest, the story is pretty lightweight and unassuming, but this is an example of revenge comedy. The main point of revenge comedy is to create a cathartic situation for the audience. In this case, the characters do all the things the people in the audience would like to do, but can't. After 90 minutes, the movie's over.
Office Space was written and directed by Mike Judge, who created "Beavis and Butthead" and "King of the Hill" (the humor here is more similar to the latter than the former). It was based on a series of animated shorts Judge did for "Saturday Night Live" in the early 90's. The shorts were based on the Milton character, but he is really just a supporting character here (although Root is hilarious playing him). Despite the major success his creations have brought him, Judge seems to understand what it's like to be a peon in the workplace. He milks a lot of laughs out of the office situation.
Livingstone makes a good hero for this story. He's likable in a bland kind of way; you believe him as an office drone. Then, once the transformation begins, he shows a subtle streak of anger that propels his actions in the second half. Aniston is also good in a very small role. Her own revenge at that restaurant is quite amusing (as is the eventual reply of her coworker).
I liked Office Space for what it was - a pissed-off little comedy about the way work can (as the poster says) suck. Ironically, as I was driving home after the movie, the radio began playing "Working For A Living," the classic Huey Lewis & the News song about job-related tribulations. I like my job now, but I cranked up the song, thought about the movie, and briefly considered calling in sick on Monday anyway.
(
out of four)
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