Office Space was the first live action feature length film directed by Mike Judge, the creator of King of the Hill (and Beavis and Butthead) . It was a box office failure initially, but become a hit on video release. It’s now referred to endlessly in seemingly every office.
The Set-Up
Peter (Ron Livingston) is a programmer who does not like his life. He hates his job and thinks that his girlfriend is cheating on him. He agrees to go with his girlfriend to a hypnotherapist. The therapist hypnotizes him into releasing all his cares and worries. But before the therapist can release him from hypnosis, the doctor dies.
The next day, Peter does not go to work. Then he does not go the day after. His girlfriend breaks up with him. Two consultants are brought into his company to decide who should be fired and who should stay. None of this bothers him.
With Peter’s devil-may-care attitude everyone assumes he will be fired. Instead he’s given a promotion and his friends Samir and Michael are going to be fired instead. Because of the unfairness of how the company treats them Peter, Michael, and Samir come up with a scheme to slowly rob the company over time. The plan is to upload a virus that takes an insignificant amount of money on each financial transaction. They won’t get rich quickly, but they don’t think they’ll get caught.
But there was issue with their virus. It ends up stealing a very large sum that is immediately noticeable. At the end of the movie Peter tries to finally do the right thing. But there is one more twist after that.
Why is it Great?
This is a movie that everyone can relate too. I loved this movie in high school before I ever had a full-time or an office job. Everyone imagines what they would do if they did not care about consequences. Everyone has felt put-upon like Milton (Stephen Root), a minor character who is pushed around by everyone at the company. Everyone has felt frustrated by red tape in some form or another. Or been in a meeting where you felt moments of your life being wasted.
This movie is cast perfectly. There are some cartoonish characters but they never come across as unrealistic.
I also love the gangsta rap soundtrack. It’s an amusing counterpoint to the boringness of suburban office life.
It’s a funny movie. There are one-liners, funny characters, and some silly signage gags. There are also jokes that are funny when you think about them later.
If you’ve ever worked in a office you should watch this movie, you’ll definitely be able to relate. If you’ve never worked in an office or you don’t like Mike Judge’s comedy it’s possible you won’t like this movie. It may feel un-relatable and not seem very funny. But I’ve never met anyone yet who did not think at least one part of this movie was funny.