Monday, December 21, 2009

Extract DVD

 

 

DVD Review by Kam Williams

 

Headline: Mike Judge DVD Misses the Mark

 

                While Mike Judge may be best known as the creator of the MTV animated series Beavis and Butthead, he also has a cult following of devoted movie fans who love his live-action masterpieces like Office Space and Idiocracy. But they are apt to be disappointed by this latest offering, Extract, an ensemble comedy starring Jason Bateman as a sexually-frustrated, flavoring factory owner.

Judge surrounded Bateman with a talented cast which includes SNL’s Kristen Wiig, Ben Affleck, J.K. Simmons, Mila Kunis, David Koechner and Gene Simmons. Unfortunately, they were asked to execute a sorry script which simply isn’t very funny.

The picture’s premise revolves around the miserable plight of Joel, the owner of a company which manufactures flavorings. Unhappy both at work and at home, he frequently retreats to a local pub to cry on the shoulder of the bartender, his best friend, Dean (Affleck).

Too bad Dean doles out nothing but awful advice. For instance, when Joel is tempted to cheat on his seemingly-frigid wife (Wiig), his pal suggests that he hire a new pool boy (Dustin Milligan) to seduce her first. According to Dean’s convoluted logic, this will enable Joel to sleep with his pretty employee Cindy (Mila Kunis) with a clear conscience. Of course, that ploy backfires because Suzie starts having an affair with the gigolo but then Cindy shows no interest in sleeping with Joel.

Trust me, the understated humor here is decidedly-dull despite the droll tone which the production ostensibly was aiming for. Plus, the characters are uniformly annoying, most of all Joel’s next-door neighbor Nathan (Koechner),

Maybe Matt Judge just ran out of ideas. In any case, there’s no reason to waste your time on this 90-minute test of patience.

 

Fair (1 star)

Rated R for profanity, drug use and sexual references.

Running time: 92 minutes

Studio: Miramax Home Entertainment

DVD Extras: Mike Judge’s Secret Recipe featurette.

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