So I checked out Mike Judge's new movie Extract. Not bad but disappointing. It was way better than Idiocracy but not as good as Beavis and Butthead or even King of the Hill; I don't compare any of Judge's stuff to Office Space because that movie is just impossible to top. It's unfair to compare to.

Anyway, Joel (Jason Bateman) is the owner and boss of an extract factory. He's very passionate about his trade but unfortunately his demanding employees and boring marriage keep his stress level up high. The plot of the movie is essentially split in two. One involves a con artist (Mila Kunis) who infiltrates the factory and tries to convince an ex-employee to sue the company for millions (after he loses one of his testicles in a freak accident). The other involves Joel's friend Dean (Ben Affleck) convincing Joel to hire a giggalo to seduce his wife so he can cheat of her with Mila's character guilt-free. As many of the reviews have already said, Extract is a movie about making bad decisions. I can't say I don't agree.

Just about everyone involved in the movie is excellent. Bateman is terrific as Joel. He's not particularly funny but you can definitely identify with his character. He's basically a guy who's not asking for much and yet has to put up with a lot. It's also fun to watch his character get angrier and more on edge as the movie goes along. Ben Affleck is surprisingly funny as Joel's laid back druggie friend. Some of the better actors like J.K. Simmons are kinda squandered but are still good, naturally. The best is David Koechner as Joel's annoying neighbor. Definitely the funniest in the movie and as close to Office Space as the movie gets.

That said, Extract isn't particularly funny. No laugh-out-loud moments at all. Mostly chuckle-worthy gags. I guess that's fine for this movie. Mike Judge has never been a laugh-out-loud kinda guy. Still, Extract feels like a slightly less funny version of King of the Hill so if you don't like the show, stay away. KOTH is the closest Extract comes to Judge's other works. As the movie goes on, the laughs get less scarce as Joel becomes more stressed out. You actually sorta feel his stress so the movie, while visceral, becomes kinda painful to watch after some time. Not great.

At the same time, it's kinda fun just to watch how these characters behave. Judge absolutely nails the pain and irritation of the general monotony of life both at work and at home. He's also great at pointing out how selfish, stupid, careless and annoying people can be. It's actually sorta depressing at times but the tone of the movie is so unaggressive, you can't help but get into it, at least some of the time.

So some good stuff but overall not great. Extract has the exact opposite problem of Idiocracy. While Idiocracy was just overly outrageous and exaggerated, Extract is just too reserved and dry for it's own good. It doesn't lack personality by any means but it does lack an exciting personality.