They say you should write what you know. Record the stories in the everyday as if they were extraordinary and they will become so. The master of this is writer-director Mike Judge, best known for Office Space, King of the Hill, and Bevis and Butt-Head Do America
His latest piece, Extract, is about growing up. Not the transition from childhood to adulthood, but the much more difficult shift towards recognizing and accepting things as they are.
Your big house might be too big.
Your lovely wife might not be so lovely.
Your best friend might be an idiot.
And that job, the one that you complain about everyday, the one that keeps you up late and out early, the one that gave you all those grays, just might be the most interesting part of your day.
None of the acting in this film is phenomenal, but it is believable. Jason Bateman’s incredulous stare and hunched shoulders bring life to the humdrum existence of Joel Reynolds. Add to that the natural sex appeal of Mila Kunis, the familiar beauty of Kristen Wiig, and the blank stares of Dustin Milligan and you’ve got yourself a story!
The plot is as shallow as the characters. In fact you might forget their names half-way through. And don’t expect to be saved by humor (are the people in your life all that funny?).
When you break it down, this movie really isn’t all that great…but once you start it you will keep watching. Crossing your fingers and hoping things work out for Joel. That maybe this story will show you the secret to accepting life’s hardest truth, how to come out alive.
P.S. this movie is a Popcorn Combo
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