Office Space

Movie, 1999, R

Premise - Peter Gibbons is stuck in a boring IT job that gives his life no meaning or purpose. The problem is, there isn't really anything else he'd want to be doing instead. His fantasies involve just doing nothing all day instead. After an unfortunate hypnosis experience, he starts to do just that - nothing - during his work day, and finds out how it works in his favor.

Review - My dad watches this movie about once a month. No joke. This was only the second time I had seen it in full, but I have seen certain clips (killing the printer??) 10+ times.

Honestly, the first time I watched Office Space, it was NOT the film I was expecting. For some reason, knowing my dad watches it on repeat, I had imagined some PG, simple film about working in an office. Instead, it was a heavily R-rated satire with a hip-hop/rap soundtrack, full of white guys trying to find meaning in this highly corporate life in ways reminiscent of Fight Club. The n-word was used more than I have heard it in just about every other film just because of the music choices.

It is easy to understand why this became a cult classic, despite being unrecognizable at the box office. The humor is different than your classic American comedy in that it's a lot more dry and deadpan. I highly appreciated the dark humor of the film. Despite being absurd, it somehow isn't unrealistic. What makes for good satire is the sad and ridiculous accuracy of it all. (87/100)

Quote - "Our high school guidance counselor used to ask us what you'd do if you had a million dollars and you didn't have to work. And invariably what you'd say was supposed to be your career. So, if you wanted to fix old cars then you're supposed to be an auto mechanic." 

What to watch for - I loved the soundtrack. The juxtaposition of the hardcore gangster rap music with the awkward, nerdy white guys was by far the best thing about this movie. I watched the "Damn it feels good to be a gangster" montage a million times.

If you liked this movie, I'd recommend Fight Club!

Directed by Mike Judge
Distributed by 20th Century Fox