Review of Office Space (1992) by Susan T — 09 Jun 2011

I LOVED this film, and like "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", (my first Judd Apatow film!), it surprised me and the surprises were the funnier for being caught off-guard, as when Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston) strolls into a meeting to "audition for his job" with efficiency experts and under the remnants of a hypnotic state from the previous night, lackadaisically clowns around with lines like "I'd say that in a given week, I do about 15 minutes of actual work." or later, with his next door neighbor, Lawrence (Dietrich Bader), saying that, if he had a million dollars he would "do absolutely nothing".

When he finally comes to work after sleeping all weekend (despite being told to come in by his "soulless, evil" boss, Bill Lumbergh (Gary Cole), he saunters around in a t-shirt, jeans and flip-flops, to the tune of "Damn, it feels good to be a Gangsta", using a cordless drill to remove an annoying door handle and dismantling his hated office cubicle.

Soon, Peter's "dream of doing nothing" is almost contagious, as his growing relationship with Joanna (Jennifer Anniston) , a waitress who also hates her job, is almost forced to wear "pieces of flair" (buttons) and begins to rebel, and his friends at Initech, Michael and Samir, whose heads are on the chopping block, devise a a scheme to pilfer money from the company using a computer virus.

At first, all seems smooth, until the three "criminals" realize that they have no idea how to launder the money. Not only that, but their plan goes awry and they end up stealing over $300,000 in one day.

Peter decides to confess to the crime but is saved at the last minute by the vengeance of his bumbling, fellow office mate, the "squirrelly" Milton Waddams (Stephen Root), who is obsessed with his red stapler.

I especially love where Peter ends up--not in a cubicle, but outside "getting some fresh air, making some dough", with Lawrence, doing manual labor.

This film is a spot-on view of the average office worker's boring, miserable life, at least while on the job, and offers some interesting alternatives to not being part of the corporate "grind".

It's recurring jokes, such as Lumbergh's ever-present coffee mug and his "Yeahhh...hiiii", and the perky mail-lady's "looks like someone's got a case of the Mondays!", complete the squirm-worthy world of poor Peter and his cohorts. It makes anyone with a brain, who has ever endured such a job, wonder WHAT the F*** they were doing!