It should be a pretty well-known fact at this point that besides doing reviews, all of here have day jobs. You think that being a reviewer is some dream job, that everyone gets paid for it, but that’s not the case, and trying to watch a stack of DVD’s, play through the latest video games and then write reviews for them isn’t always an easy thing to do. In my case, I work customer service; I’m on the phone 8 hours a day, five days a week, and one movie that gets mentioned quite a bit is Office Space. It doesn’t get mentioned by me though since I’ve never seen it. I know, working in the industry that I do, I should have seen it, but honestly, unless it’s sent for review, I don’t really have any time beyond what’s necessary, but lucky for me that Fox has re-released Office Space in their new Special Edition that comes with Flair. Now I’m forced to watch Office Space and I don’t have any excuses to make.

Office Space is one of those films that was made for any working stiff that completely hates their job and believe me, I’ll be getting more into that shortly. Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston) works at Initech, a technology firm working to get computers up to standard before the millennium hits, among other things, and he hates his job. After a botched hypnotherapy session where the doctor dies, Peter decides to do exactly as he pleases, ditching work and such, and that ends up getting him promoted, but he finds out something terrible is going on in the company.

The company is on the verge of layoffs, and two of his friends, Michael Bolton (David Herman) and Samir Nagheenanajar (Ajay Naidu) are on the list of those to lose their jobs. Michael has always been talking about how he could create a computer virus that could rob the company blind, and Peter decides that this is the perfect time to do it. Besides, the only person who they are really going to be hurting is their boss, Bill Lumbergh (Gary Cole.)

Office Space is from the mind of Mike Judge, the same man behind the notorious Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill, among other things, and for those that have or do work in an office setting, this is a movie that you’re going to be able to relate to. We also get a brief look at any segment of the work industry, a restaurant, as Peter’s love interest Joanna (Jennifer Aniston) works at a business that requires her to wear a minimum of 15 buttons on her uniform and always wear a happy face. However, the office is really the heart of the story hear.

Having worked in the customer service industry for five plus years now, I can honestly say that this is really a great depiction of how the world is. As I wrote previously, I work a customer service job, and while the environment is rather relaxed, I can dress how I want, I have portable game systems and a DVD player at my cube at all times and no one cares as long as I take calls, let’s look at things a little more in depth. I do customer service for pre-paid calling cards, and if you can walk upright on both feet as well as walk and chew gum at the same time, you’re probably thinking that no one ever calls. You’re dead wrong. I talk with simpletons every day that can’t understand why its more to call Canada that it is the United States, they think that calling some location within the US is considered international, and this is just the start of things.

Office Space my not look at this, but it does look at some of the co-workers, and again, we’ve got some rather accurate things. In the film, there is an operator with an annoying tone of voice, and I work right across from that same woman every day. There’s Milton, played wonderfully by Stephen Root, the annoying, quite guy that no one seems to notice and is overlooked for just about everything. Payroll issues abound as well, and believe me, this seems to almost be a weekly occurrence at my job. There’s also the boss that no one like, and though that’s not necessarily true where I am (it was, but that person is gone now) I’ve dealt with it at other places.

The situations, the character and everything combined all equals out to being top-notch comedy, and that’s something that I really do expect from many of the things that I’ve seen from Mike Judge, though there was a time when I thought that Beavis and Butthead was one of the stupidest shows on television, but it grows on you. Office Space doesn’t need to grow on you though, especially if you’ve worked in the industry for even a day. This is a film that’s much like Clerks, though while in Kevin Smiths film the character simply take much of the abuse and do nothing to improve the situation, the character in Office Space decide to make change, from Peter’s plan to embezzle funds thanks to an idea taken from Superman III (that was Michael’s influence) down to Milton’s constant mention that he’ll set the building on fire if he’s moved again. Too bad no one ever listens. Even the beginning which finds Peter stuck in horrible traffic has a similar vibe to Falling Down, though in the case of Office Space, they don’t quite get pushed to the same lengths.

If you already own Office Space, then the question I’m sure you’re wondering is what makes this version different and it’s all in the extras. The only similarity that the two releases have with one another is the original theatrical trailer, and this new version has quite a bit more. For starters, it has eight deleted scenes, and I really wish the sequence with Peter finally telling his co-worker off. “Out of the Office” is an all-new featurette featuring many of the cast members as well as Mike Judge talking about their work on the film and, for those that have a DVD-ROM, you will find that Office Space come with screensavers, wallpapers, audio clips, and even a game.

It’s time to dump that old version of Office Space that you already own and pick up this new version. There’s a reason that it’s “with Flair,” and with the combination of audio clips and deleted scenes, I think that makes it past the 15 minimum. I mean, you could have a DVD that just does the bare minimum amount when it comes to added features, but not in the case of Office Space. It does far beyond that. Am I glad that I finally saw the film? As a matter of fact I am, and I understand now why everyone that I’ve ever worked with told me that I should see the movie. Even if you don’t work in an office environment though, Office Space has plenty of comedy that you don’t necessarily need to be “in the industry” to find hilarious.

-mike-
 

Directed By: Mike Judge Written By: Mike Judge Cast: Ron Livingston Jennifer Aniston David Herman Ajay Naidu Diedrich Bader Stephen Root Gary Cole Richard Riehle Alexandra Wentworth Joe Bays John C. McGinley Paul Willson

DVD Features: Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround) English & Spanish Subtitles Out of the Office: An Office Space retrospective with Mike Judge Deleted Scenes Theatrical Trailer DVD-ROM audio