Review of Extract (2009) by John S — 11 Jul 2010

Three little words: Needs more funny! Doesn't get any simpler then that, but I also say that because when you sit down to watch a comedy like Extract or any Mike Judge film....you expect to laugh......a lot. I'm not one of the people who are completely in love with Office Space but even so she is one of the most original comedies I have seen. The originality that Judge is known for came out in Idiocracy but unfortunately it didn't really pawn out. Idiocracy was one of the reasons why I didn't have the highest of hopes going into this movie and coming out I can say it's a lot better then Idiocracy but she's still not of the quality you expect from Judge. She has the right material for a fantastic comedy, only if he would have used it a bit more here.

Extract is funny and entertaining but really forgettable and that is strange because she has everything a Mike Judge film would have. Sour humor which works sometimes, colorful characters, some funny and some unbearable...Personally I felt the movie needed something more to happen, there was very little going on and it was all just very uneventful. It was like they only had a half a script. Some actors even had nothing to do, like J.K Simmons, Kristen Wiig, Clifton Collins and Mila Kunis and these are important roles. They do there best with what they have and are able to become likeable extras at best. Jason Bateman is good but the man needs to stop picking roles that are exactly like Michael Bluth from Arrested Development. He has been stuck in that character for years and Dodgeball being the only exception. Ben Affleck, David Koechner and Dustin Milligan all steal the scene because they got something more to work with then the others.

There were some scenes that got me to laugh out loud but truthfully now I can't remember how those scenes went. I think, had Judge put more effort and ambition into this production, this could have been a great film compared to the cast they had. She would have had to be much more entertaining and funny; also the movie had to have a lot bigger and more of an a eventful story.

6/10 -- Something to watch when there is nothing else to do.