Movie review and filmmaker interview: Mike Judge’s Extract

by John P. Meyer

Mike Judge has a real talent for vivid characterizations, as fans of King of the Hill, Beavis and Butt-Head and (more to the cinematic point) Office Space can tell you. As it turns out, his cast of morally overdrawn, socially pseudo-functional, and (GULP!) frighteningly familiar characters constitute most of what saves Extract from film comedy mediocrity.

Without the fascinating characters, this story setup would be too obscure to even consider approaching for a film treatment. Here it is, in a nutshell

The owner/operator of an extract plant (i.e., vanilla) hires a thieving sexpot of a temp to work on his production line, leading to an industrial injury and a potentially business-ending lawsuit. Meanwhile, the factory owner's home life is going to Hell in a handcart because his wife is too tired (disinterested? distracted?) to have sex with him. Plus, his best buddy feeds him horse tranquilizer and sets him up with a pot dealer who puts the capital "P" in paranoia.

I ask you: would you invest time, energy, or money to produce a film of this description?

"Only if Mike Judge is behind it," I can almost hear you thinking. (You clever S.O.B.)

Plant manager Joel is played by Jason Bateman, a canny everyman choice for the role of a corporate boss who's too nice to fire people -- too nice even to hold a grudge against an ex-employee (Clifton Collins Jr., as Step) who's threatening to shut down the whole operation because of the unfortunate "mid-body" injury he suffered on the production floor.

Mila Kunis gets the plum role of Cindy, a temptress so sultry she can charm the electric guitar right out from under a pair of doting music store salesguys. (Pretty girls really do have an advantage in the larceny department, as Cindy clearly demonstrates.) She then proceeds to enrapture her new boss Joel, to the point that he begins plotting adultery. And doing drugs to loosen his built-in moral constraints.

The guy who can provide the drugs is bartender Dean (Ben Affleck, thoroughly convincing as a long-haired slacker), whose good intentions are untempered by any of those pesky reasoning abilities. Dean also comes up with a plot to ease Joel's conscience when it comes to fooling around on the missus: he suggests Joel hire a gigolo to seduce his wife, operating under the principle that holds "if she's doing it, then it's O.K. for me to do it, too."

Sexy Kristen Wiig plays Suzie, Joel's wife, who dons sweat pants (read: "chastity belt") at precisely 7 p.m. every night -- causing Joel no end of frustration when he's cornered in the driveway by annoying neighbor Nathan (David Koechner, who'd get the Oscar hands-down if there was a category for Most Annoying Neighbor in a Comedy Performance. Stay tuned ...)

We haven't even touched on the characters who populate the factory floor, but we ought to, because Beth Grant (as Mary), for instance, is fabulous as an assembly line functionary who knows when (and how) to stand up for her rights -- by sitting on her hands. And J.K. Simmons (as Brian) gets the full exercise of his comedic skills, playing Joel's plant manager as the kind of fellow who refers to all 70 employees as "that guy" (or "that gal"). With the exception of the new hot temp.

Finally, mention must be made of two small but unforgettable supporting roles: Gene Simmons (yep, THAT Gene Simmons) as relentless personal injury attorney Joe Adler; and Dustin Milligan as the ineffably clueless (but -- apparently -- amazingly talented) boy-toy-for-hire, Brad.

All things considered, Extract never reaches Office Space heights of hilarity -- and that's probably in part because its factory setting is less accessible to most filmgoers (this one specifically) than the cubicle-based environment of that other film. Plus, it plays more like a series of comic incidents than an artfully integrated whole. It succeeds better as an entertainment than a film. (Nevertheless, I laughed my ass off.)

As you'll hear in the audio interview which follows, Judge wrote the script for Extract not long after finishing up on Office Space.

***********

NOTES: Mike Judge roundtable press interview

It should be stated for the record that Mike Judge is a laid-back conversationalist. Lots of pauses and "um, er"s. Definite Toastmaster no-nos.

(Forewarned is forearmed.)

Part 1

* "The nuns ... at least ours were kinda some angry people." - re. his high school in Albuquerque

* After 'querque, he lived in the Dallas/Richardson area for about five years.

* Where this script fits into the timeline between Office Space and Idiocracy

* How the Hollywood intelligentsia decided Idiocracy would be the best choice for a commercially viable project

* He showed the script to his King of the Hill creative partners; they liked it. They decided to do the film low budget style, using independent financing. Miramax picked up domestic distribution.

* Why he feels that workplace environments are fertile grounds for comedy

* "A lot of people thought it was gonna be a sequel (to Office Space), actually. Boy, were they surprised." - re. Idiocracy

* He regards Extract as a companion piece to Office Space, in the sense that it was sympathetic to the employees; this one's sympathetic to the boss, withh the employees as the annoying characters.

* How Ben Affleck became attached to the project

* Why Jason Bateman for the lead?

Part 2

* Gene Simmons as Joe Adler: "This guy just looks like he could be a sleazy businessman."

* "We need someone who's just a running sore of a human being." - producer, re. the role of Joe Adler

* Simmons had previously done some work on King of the Hill; judge describes him as "a gracious guy, really good to work with."

* Creating characters; walking the fine line between poking fun and downright meanness.

* References are drawn to Beverly Hillbillies, Leave it to Beaver, and The Bob Newhart Show

* He got the idea for the film's setting while driving by the Adams Extract Plant south of Austin.

* "You know, that's where the Adams Extract people live." - quoting a realtor, showing him a fancy house in Austin

* "This one (Extract) is one of those 'it's not the destination, it's the journey' kind of things."

* "Of all the jobs I had, the ones where you're actually making something ... it's just more satisfying."

* "I was hoping no one would recognize me." - re. his walk-on role in the film. (HINT: look for the big mustache.)

* Other scripts on his back burner (including Brigadier Gerard, by Arthur Conan Doyle)