Extract

[Kurosawa Fan]

A new film from Mike Judge. The cast is fantastic, and the trailer has some laughs. I'll be there.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/miramax/extract/

[Sven]

You know this already, but I am sold. I love Mike Judge I've decided.

[chrisnu]

Trailer here:

http://www.extract-the-movie.com/

Looking forward to it.

[chrisnu]

Consistently funny (laugh-out loud hilarious at times), very cynical (which I dig), and ultimately feels less than the sum of its parts.I liked the exploits of characters who want to be devious and clever, but don't quite get there on a mental level. Needed more J.K. Simmons.

The whole David Koechner sub-plot is awesome, as is the sub-plot between Kristen Wiig and Dustin Milligan.

[number8]

Opened 10th place at B.O.

Wow, Mike Judge can't make a movie hit.

[eternity]

Opened 10th place at B.O.

Wow, Miramax can't make a movie hit.
Or that.

[Spun Lepton]

Extract teaches us that no matter how outlandish the situation, it can be resolved with a good, calm conversation. Perhaps this is true to an extent in real life, but in a movie it makes for boredom.

It's like Judge wanted to make a dark comedy, but he just didn't have the eggs to do it. All of the characters are perfectly bland, reasonable people. Even the so-called criminal element.

Mila Kunis is wasted. Her character is nothing more than a plot device to set the situation in motion, then she's occasionally thrown in here and there to make life "difficult." Problem is, nothing here is extremely difficult, and virtually everything is fixed with the minimum amount of effort from the characters.

4/10

[number8]

That's kind of Judge's forte, isn't it? I think Office Space and most King of the Hill episodes are like that.

[Spun Lepton]

That's kind of Judge's forte, isn't it? I think Office Space and most King of the Hill episodes are like that.

Actually, I think it's King of the Hill's formula that spilled over into Extract. Except that in KotH, it's characters over-reacting to relatively mundane situations. In Extract, the characters aren't over-reacting. They're reacting like perfectly well-adjusted and reasonable people who make mistakes. Great for a Lifetime drama, but for an R-rated comedy ... ?

Office Space had some sharp edges. There was also a strong sense that the lead character's actions put him into some kind of danger. Plus, there were memorable and occasionally outlandish characters.

Extract has none of these things. Nothing in Extract seems to have any kind emotional or dramatic weight to it, it all ends up seeming like an inconvenience for the lead character.

[transmogrifier]

Mike Judge is one of the more boring directors around who still, unaccountably, gets a fanboy following.

[Boner M]

Mike Judge is one of the more boring directors around who still, unaccountably, gets a fanboy following.
One day, I'll make a compilation of all your one-line fanboy-parade-rain dismissal posts. It will be an epic of Tolstoy-ian proportions.

[transmogrifier]

One day, I'll make a compilation of all your one-line fanboy-parade-rain dismissal posts. It will be an epic of Tolstoy-ian proportions.

This post has too many hyphens. Thus I will not read it.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Oy. This wasn't very good. A few highlights, mainly because of Ben Affleck, but overall this was the longest 90 minute movie in recent memory. It felt like it'd never end. Not particularly insightful social commentary, very few laughs, and actors who just seemed bored. What a waste of J.K. Simmons and Kristen Wiig.

[Adam]

Yeah, agreed, this was disappointing. I actually really dug Kristen Wiig here a lot, though. The scene where she tries to end it with the poolboy is maybe the only time I out-and-out laughed during the whole movie. I wish she would play relatively normal characters more often, instead of all the wacky riffs on Gilly she trots out constantly for SNL