Review of Extract (2009) by Melvin W — 30 Jul 2012

Joel: What if I tell her you did it all for money? How about that Ding-Ding? .

"A comedy that hits you where it hurts".

You know what, I really loved Extract. It's actually, easily my favorite work I've ever seen from Mike Judge. I honestly don't see what everyone is complaining about. This is a comedy that's extremely funny and has a great cast all executing their performances with effective use of the jokes they are given. And most of those jokes work. .

Joel owns a flavor extract company that he is thinking of selling to go onto retirement. He's in a sexless marriage. So instead of being at home with his wife, he is at the bar with a moron friend of his. When a new girl named Cindy comes into temp; Joel instantly gets that old fashioned feeling where he just wants to bone her. Feeling guilty, he hires a gigolo to seduce his wife into having sex with him, so he can go about his business of fucking the temp. When he realizes this is a bad idea, it's too late. Now he has a wife that's cheating on him and a business that is crumbling after an on the job accident at his factory. .

None of the actors in this movie are what I'd call amazingly talented. That isn't to say I don't like them, it is just none of them are Oscar caliber. Which isn't a bad thing with a movie like this. Jason Bateman gives the funniest performance I've ever seen from him. I always love Kunis and Wiig and they're both great here. Affleck's presence didn't hurt anything either, and J.K. Simmons is hilarious like usual. Gene Simmons even has a small role as a scheming lawyer.

This movie was so much better than I expected. I honestly had no intention of ever watching this, but I am so glad I did. It is completely underrated and way funnier than about 95% of the comedies that are being released. It's a slight work, no doubt, but it did everything that we expect from good comedies. It also did it without being overly obscene. Not that that really affects how I view it because I love obscene humor as well, but you'd think it would be more accessible because of its restraint. In the end, I don't really care if no one else likes it because I adored it.