EXTRACT

by

 

ColeSmithey.comAs prolific as writer/director Mike Judge has been throughout a stellar career which includes such television staples as “Beevis and Butt-Head’ and “King of the Hill,” it’s to his detriment (and ours) that he hasn’t done more feature films.

“Office Space” (1999) became a cult classic after the fact of its failed theatrical release. “Idiocracy” (2006) did the same in spite of its mistreatment by distributors.

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With “Extract,” Judge crafts a solid comic narrative base for a flavoring-extract company run by sexually frustrated owner Joel Reynold (well played by Jason Bateman).

Reynold’s staff of barely competent blue-collar workers set off a chain reaction accident that climaxes with a severed testicle for would-be floor-manager Step (Clifton Collins Jr.).

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Step falls prey to the con-artist attentions of Cindy (Mila Kunis), a sex-kitten opportunist determined to help Step sue the Reynold Extract company right out of business.

Joel adds to his headaches when, in a drugged-out state, he takes his barkeep pal Dean’s (Ben Affleck) bad advice to hire a gigolo to sleep with his sexually closed-off wife Suzie (Kristen Wiig), so that he [Joel] can then cheat on Suzie with impunity. The tone of the comedy is spot-on but Judge never manages to bring the humor to a boil.

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There are chuckles to be had and even a few belly laughs but “Extract” can’t help but pale to Judd Apatow’s work that has set the bar high for this kind of comedy.

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Nonetheless, you get the sense that if Mike Judge made more pictures, he’d hit his stride alongside the likes of Apatow pretty quick.

(Miramax) Rated R. 90 mins.

4 Stars

Cozy Cole

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