09/21/09 - Office Space

Office Space (1999, 89 min)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/

Ahh ... the gloriously timeless Office Space. An excellent comedy from the late '90s, it's aged really well in these 10 years even if it is about a tech company. I'd wanted to rewatch this for some time.

Ron Livingston plays Peter Gibbons, a tech worker who lives in his cubicle. His best friends at the company Initech are David Herman as Michael Bolton and Ajay Naidu as Samir. His neighbor is the hilarious Lawrence (Diedrich Bader). Following a strange hypnosis, Peter re-evaluates his life and decides to stop working. He meets a restaurant employee named Joanna (Jennifer Anniston) and ignores his boss's (Bill Lumbergh played by Gary Cole) incessant calling. Having a somewhat minor yet also greatly important role is Stephen Root as the crazy Milton Waddams.

The great thing about Office Space is that it can be watched by anyone and be enjoyed. While I'm only in college and haven't had a desk job like those of the main characters, that doesn't exempt me from finding similar frustrations in my schoolwork. From TPS Reports to annoying co-workers I think everyone can find something in Office Space that ticks them off. And Office Space excels at mocking them in the perfect manner. Helping along the way is the quality acting. Everyone is great here. I'm not a big fan of Anniston and she doesn't do much to persuade me otherwise here. However, Naidu as Samir and Livingston are great. Though Naidu isn't in as many scenes as Livingston I feel his character is perhaps the funniest. From dancing to raging on the printer, Naidu is always hilarious.

Being almost endlessly quotable also helps Office Space a ton. From things like "I believe you have my stapler" to "Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays!" there's just too many things here not to enjoy something. Memorable scenes are plenty as well. Perhaps my favorite is the group discussing the definition of "launder" while Peter's answering machine recordings are a close second. Almost just as impressive is the whole montage that plays out while "Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta" serves as Peter's soundtrack.

Overall, I gave this film an 8/10. There's tons of jokes, tons of great quotes, and tons of memorable scenes. The humor is top-notch and the plot is so silly it just works. Everything just works together to make a great film.