THE MOVIE

Introduction:

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment dips into its archives to bring the cult VHS rental classic ’Office Space’ to our beloved DVD format. ’Office Space’ is the brainchild of Mike Judge who was the creator of ’Beavis and Butthead’ and co-creator of the more recent ’King of the Hill’ TV series.

’Office Space’ features an impressive cast that includes Ron Livingston (‘Swingers’), Gary Cole (‘The Brady Bunch Movie’), Jennifer Aniston (‘Along Came Polly’) and Stephen Root (‘Newsradio’).

Plot Synopsis:

Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston) is a computer programmer who is stuck in one of those inanely routine and un-motivational nine-to-five jobs at a company called Initech Corporation.

Whilst Peter recognises his plight, he can’t find a way to climb out of his predicament. Ultimately, Peter is coerced into seeing an occupational hypnotherapist who puts him into a state of stress-free bliss. Unfortunately, Peter’s hypnotherapist suffers a heart-attack mid-way through the session and leaves Peter stuck in this strange new euphoria.

When Peter returns to work with his new apathetic attitude, he catches the eye of two efficiency experts hired by Initech to weed out the under performers. However, instead of sacking Peter, the two so-called experts are taken by Peter’s indifferent attitude to the Corporation and decide to promote Peter to a management position whilst forcing him to sack his two of his closest work mates Michael and Samir.

Furious at the actions of the Corporation and the efficiency experts, Peter, Michael and Samir hatch a plan that not only allows them to seek revenge on Initech, but also ensures that neither one will ever have to worry about work ever again.

Commentary:

I remember watching ’Office Space’ when it first came out on VHS back in 1999. Having spent almost two years in an office environment prior to viewing ’Office Space’ much of the film’s satire was instantly recognisable to me and whilst painful to watch on screen, was satisfying, if only for the realisation that it wasn’t just myself who faced such dreaded office shenanigans on a day-to-day basis. However, there were a few nagging points I had about the movie, even back in those days.

Firstly, whilst I give credit to the film’s ability to accurately capture the day-to-day horrors of office-life (e.g. working in cubicles, office equipment that breaks down all the time, the constant threat of downsizing, the mysterious power of the internal memo and computers that take forever to power down), the gags were few and far between. Worse still, some gags tend to fall flat at numerous times throughout the feature.

The second issue, which is more relevant today, is the fact that the film has a very dated feel. This is no doubt a result of the budgetary restrictions imposed upon Judge by the powers that be, however, with the advent of the BBC’s far superior series ’The Office’, this 90 minute feature just doesn’t have what it takes to maintain the audience’s attention.

Moving the discussion to the cast, Judge is to be commended for pulling together such a fabulous ensemble for his first foray into motion pictures. John Livingston, with his deadpan attitude is perfect casting for the role of Gibbons and is definitely one of the most impressive masters of comic timing today. Likewise, the lesser known Ajay Naidu and David Herman bring a sparkle to the screen as Gibbon’s work colleagues and partners in crime. Also joining the cast is the ever impressive and constantly scene-stealing Gary Cole who epitomises “the boss” we have all had at some time or rather, and the hilarious Stephen Root in the role of Milton (who is actually one of Judge’s earlier Saturday Night Live cartoon characters and whom inspired the feature). Perhaps the only thorn in the side of the casting couch is Jennifer Aniston’s waitress/girlfriend character which is about as derivative as they come!!! Thankfully, Ms Aniston has since been able to forge a career away from such forgettable roles.

Artistically, ’Office Space’ doesn’t really have much to offer as the cinematography is fairly dull, which is perhaps an artistic choice to emphasise the mundane and sterile environment of an office. But then again…maybe I’m giving too much credit to the filmmakers!!! The soundtrack for the film is a little alternative, bordering on hip-hop and rap inspired. A very weird choice that serves only to highlight the musical taste of one of the principal cast.

Overall, whilst ’Office Space’ has some inspired moments (e.g. the destruction of the fax machine by Gibbons and his mates is definitely one of cinema’s most unsung moments), the sad truth is that such moments are too few for a 90 minute feature. It also doesn’t help that the satire is abandoned towards the final part of the movie for the more cliché-ridden heist plot.

THE TRANSFER

Video:

’Office Space’ is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is anamorphically enhanced.

Picture detail is almost reference quality on this disc with no evidence of unintentional grain or edge enhancement. Pleasingly, there were also no instances of artefacting present on this disc.

The colour palette (whilst limited due to artistic choice) was excellent and skin tones were natural. There was no evidence of colour bleeding or inappropriate saturation. Whilst there were few night-time or dark sequences in the film, it should be noted that there were no issues with blacks and/or shadow detail.

As this disc is single layered, there was no layer transition.

Audio:

’Office Space’ is presented with five Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. Only the English soundtrack was encoded with a higher bitrate and therefore this was the soundtrack I reviewed by default.

Essentially, the movie is dialogue intensive and as such, the focus of this soundtrack is on the front speakers. Surround speakers were utilised mainly for ambient/surround effects (e.g. during the few action sequences). As to be expected, subwoofer activity was minimal and only came alive during the abovementioned action sequences and whenever rap tunes blared from the soundtrack.

Thankfully, dialogue was always clear and easy-to-understand (except for a few of Milton’s mumblings…however this was intentional), and there were no issues with audio sync in this feature.

THE EXTRAS

(i) Theatrical Trailer (2:23)

The theatrical trailer is presented in the film’s original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is anamorphically enhanced with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. This particular trailer isn’t the greatest example of an effective trailer, but it is included no doubt as a token supplemental feature. *yawn*

SUMMARY

To be honest, ’Office Space’ is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, especially if you have never been exposed to an office-type situation.

Having said that, for all those who fit into the demographics of this feature, there are some heart achingly familiar scenarios on offer which will bring tears to your eye. Unfortunately, these scenes are few and far between, and I have seen much better examples of office-satire on the BBC’s ’The Office’.

This one’s a rental at best, which is ironic given the fact that it was originally a cult VHS rental title. Oh well…do we have cult DVD rental status yet?

[Rated M for language and brief sexuality.]