SYNOPSIS: “Extract,” is the latest comedy from writer/director Mike Judge (“Office Space,” “King of The Hill,” “Beavis and Butt-Head”). Joel (Bateman) is one step away from selling his flavor extract factory and retiring to easy street when a freak workplace accident sets in motion a series of disasters that put his business and personal life in jeopardy.

REVIEW: So, the man behind the infamous Beavis and Butt-head animated series and the motion picture Office Space, is back again with this fresh, new project. It has been a while since we’ve last seen a Mike Judge movie on the big screen so the anticipation was high. I am a big fan of Office Space so unfortunately my expectations were pretty high too, assuming that this would be at least as good as Office Space. Well friends, I’m sorry to say that I wasn’t too thrilled about this movie. It was funny, direct, realistic, and down-to-earth but something was missing. Office Space is an icon of American cinema, it was an instant classic and to this day I continue to quote from that movie. This movie just doesn’t reach that level. Okay, okay, so I shouldn’t compare the two and I should treat them as individual movies. Fine, but it doesn’t make much of a difference. I was hoping to be in tears from laughing so hard, but I didn’t come close. It does have plenty of funny moments but not the rolling on the floor type. For the most part the humor wasn’t very fresh or new. What Mike does bring, though, is a knack for making it real; real life, real people, real situations, exaggerated just a bit for the sake of the comedy. He also brings quality characters that we can relate to. This is all very evident in Office Space and in this picture he carries over his talent. This one is just a little weaker in the comedy aspect.

Another reason for my level of expectations is that if Mike could pull off the success of Office Space with a relatively unknown cast at the time, with the exception of the lovely Jennifer Anniston, then with the cast that this movie has I was sure it would be a smash hit. Well, not necessarily I guess. Highlighted by the star of the film, Jason Bateman, the performances were good but I’ve seen them do better. Such is the case for Jason and others like J.K. Simmons, Ben Affleck, and Mila Kunis. Ah, Mila, she can melt me with those eyes and her smile. There was an award show held on Spike TV not too long ago and it had a category along the lines of which is the hotter Milla (Mila), Jovovich or Kunis, and guess who won? Kunis won and I agree with that although it is a tight race. I’ve seen her do better, such as in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but she does have one of the more interesting characters in this film. I think J.K. is an excellent actor but he really didn’t shine as much with this role. Ben looks mighty strange, almost unrecognizable, but fitting for this stoner, druggie, Xanax dealing, bartender bum. He does have some really funny scenes. One of the more small but memorable roles was done by David Koechner. He nails his character. And then there’s Gene Simmons doing some unexpected but captivating cameo work.

The story that this movie tells was nicely laid out. It was easy to follow and it had some appealing sub-plots. Again, Mike Judge has the talent of making it very down-to-earth which is a good thing. The dialogue was also down-to-earth and simple so there was no over-the-top-of-your-head humor. Don’t get me wrong folks, this movie wasn’t bad, I just had higher expectations. It may very well be worth the watch for you, I just recommend you lighten your expectations.