Office Space (1999)

"So I was sitting in my cubicle today and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life."

Before Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant's 'The Office' there was 'Office Space', one of the first films to satirize the mundane realities of life in an average workplace. At the time of it's creation, Mike Judge was riding high off the back off of the ultra successful 'Beavis & Butthead' and 'King of the Hill' and decided to revisit a character / concept he first pioneered before any success came his way. Judge's first animated release, in fact, was a short called 'Milton', which featured the titular character as a disgruntled office peon having exchanges with his vacuous shill of a boss - known only as Lumbergh. From this germ of an idea came one of the most underrated and funny films of the 1990s. 

In the live-action version, Milton is reduced to a peripheral character and instead the story chooses to focus on Peter Gibbons, a late 20s male spending most of his days in an 8x8 hope vacuum. Peter has eight bosses, which means he has to hear about a mistake on his TPS report eight times, every time. His only two friends on the workforce are fellow misfits Michael Bolton (running 'name' jokes aplenty there) and Samir Nagheenanajar (running 'name' jokes aplenty here too). The common bond they share is a mutual hatred for their jobs at Initech - a company whose slogan is 'Initiative + Technology = Initech', which should tell you all you need to know. The only difference between them is that Peter seems ready to do something about it. 

His hand is forced by two events. The first being a 'corporate restructuring' that seems to be taking place at Initech, which involves drafting in two consultants who are tasked with weeding out the keepers from the dispensables. Their method effectively involves interviewing employees to help 'better understand' their role, when in actuality they are all interviewing for their own jobs. This causes much panic and uncertainty within the ranks. The other event causing a shift in Peter's life is a session with a behavioural hypnotherapist, which goes slightly array - causing Peter to suddenly give absolutely no fucks about anything related to his work. This leads to the trio deciding to commit to a scam defrauding the company and finally sticking it to the man. Of course, however, it doesn't go to plan. Where's the fun in that? 

All of which makes for a rich brew to quite scathingly take on American corporate life. By seeing things from the lowest rung's point of view, you really do feel the despair in it all. This is a sentiment shared by films like 'Clerks' (1994) and even as far back as Dolly Parton's '9 to 5' (1980), but here it is underpinned by the caustic wit of Mike Judge and makes for a hilarious result. Compared to something like 'The Office', which was shortly to follow, this film could be seen as a much broader form of comedy, and that is true to a certain extent. It's not a huge surprise that someone who had such massive success with animated characters created a film that feels somewhat cartoonish. However, the performances are earnest enough that, even though some of the characters shouldn't ring true, they somehow do. CEO Bill Lumbergh, for example, initially seems like a non-human. But he's so well played by Gary Cole that you start to feel every painstaking, passive/aggressive "....Yeaaaaaah" like he's talking directly to you. The urge to punch him in the face becomes stronger every time his face hits the screen. He isn't just their boss, he's every boss, somehow squeezed into one awful automaton. 

In fact, the magic of this film, it could be argued, is largely in the casting. Ron Livingston's hangdog 'I hate everything and everyone' expression is perfect for the lead role of Peter. David Heyman's portrayal of Michael Bolton - a gangsta-rap loving, thinks he's tough as nails but is actually terrified of everything, software engineer - is absolutely spot on. He isn't playing a 'nerd'. He's playing, with his heart of hearts, someone who thinks they are brilliant and above their station in life and it's all the funnier for it. Even Milton could be considered over the top, and is certainly the broadest character on display, but the performance from Stephen Root never feels like he's doing it for laughs. You really do believe he would kill a man to get his stapler back. After all, it is a Swingline. Additionally, among all of this, it's easy to forget that this film also features Jennifer Aniston in her absolute prime. She plays a waitress at the boys' local haunt (an obvious nod to TGI Fridays) and becomes Peter's primary love interest. Despite the relatively small role, considering what a massive star she was by this point, she is as brilliant as always. Her comedic timing is so perfectly pitched that again she creates a character that feels real, grounded, and totally authentic despite the wackiness going on around her. 

After getting off to a slow start, over the years this film became something of a cult-classic in the US. Phrases like "Naghena......Naghena......Naghena work here any more", "My stapler" and "Ummmmm....yeeeeeaaaaaaah" have become almost ubiquitous in American corporate culture. This is somewhat odd because there is a pretty nihilistic message at the core of this film, despite it feeling essentially like a light-hearted romantic comedy from the 90s. The rest of the world hasn't cottoned on as much, and certainly 'The Office' and it's massive success (spawning remakes in no fewer than SEVENTEEN countries) somewhat steamrolled over this film in a lot of ways. That said, if you can make the time, this low-budget indie gem is well worth the effort, offering some fantastic comedic performances, cutting dialogue and a few all-time classic moments that will live on in the history of cinema. If you've ever sat at work and wondered 'what on earth am I doing with my life?' then this film is likely an absolute must. In fact, it resonates with so many for exactly that reason; we've all wanted to kick the living arse out of our printer at some point or another. 

Not many films become part of a cultural lexicon. This one did, and if you give it a chance it's easy to see why. Just make sure you include that cover sheet when submit your TPS report, that's all I ask okay? Yeaaaah. 

★★★★☆

JB.