If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 14 years of working for a large company is that we truly live in a Dilbert world. Employees are truly promoted to their level of incompetence, and raises are given based on who has the best hair. Corporate executives earn bonuses for manipulating the numbers and those personnel who don’t have any talent, imagination or intelligence are always put in charge of those who do. This is why I’m such a huge fan of director Mike Judge’s “Office Space.” Originally released in theatres back in 1999 and took stabs at the corporate world in ways that I never thought I’d see in a film. The first part of the movie introduces us to Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston), who seems to be at the very end of a short rope. He hates his job (like most of us… well, I actually like mine…), he has an incredibly obnoxious neighbor (Diedrich Bader) and his girlfriend (Jennifer Aniston) is cheating on him.

As a last resort he visits a hypnotherapist who puts Peter into a trancelike state and tells him that everything is okay. He tells him life is good… then dies before he can bring him out of the trance. So Peter leaves, feeling that everything IS okay. Nothing bothers him, and nothing matters. This attitude transfers over to his job, but instead of getting fired, the firm believes he has become a hugely valuable asset. Unfortunately his workmates, the unfortunately named Michael Bolton (David Hermman) and Samir (Ajay Naidu) are let go. Feeling that they have been unjustly fired, they team up with Peter to get back at the firm by setting up a computer program that will shave money from its accounts and put it into theirs.

While “Office Space” is not a perfect film (it starts off very strong, but fizzles out a little towards the end), it is a favorite one of mine. All of the performances are dead on, and the way the corporate world is presented, no matter how far fetched, really isn’t too far off the mark. Livingston does an outstanding job as Gibbons, and the way he exudes his newfound laissez-faire attitude is one that I only wish I could exhibit at work (though I do come close). Then there is David Herman, who was one of the funniest comedians to come out of the early days of “Mad TV.” This guy doesn’t get, but deserves a lot more roles. As Michael Bolton, he is the perfect nebbish. Complete with pocket protectors and eye glasses, his most hysterical scene has him singing (loudly) along to a Gangsta Rap song while driving through traffic.

Jennifer Anniston is also terrific as Peter’s girlfriend Joanna. Her best scenes involve her employment at ‘Chotchkie’s’ a popular restaurant chain that somehow resembles ‘Bennigan’s.’ Watching her deal with her boss over how much ‘Flair’ she wears on her suspenders is unbelievably funny. (‘Flair’ by the way, refers to the buttons one wears on their suspenders.) That it is taken so seriously by the restaurant’s managers seems ridiculous, but friend I’ve had in the restaurant business tell me it’s true.

The film also benefits from the presence of Gary Cole, one of the more underrated character actors working on Hollywood today. He plays Bill Lumbergh, and is Peter’s boss. You never see him without a coffee cup in hand as he wanders through the office torturing the minions. He has ridiculous requests for reports and the like, and answers everything with a long drawn out, “Yeeeeaaaahhhhh…” (You have to see him to completely get it.) He nails this type of character perfectly as I have worked for a Bill Lumbergh-like troll once.

Finally, there is the ever funny Stephen Root who plays Milton Waddams. The office is for all intents and purposes, his home. He considers every item on his desk to be his personal belonging, and cannot understand why it is so hard to get a new stapler. He spent most of his year’s being the poster whipping boy, and yet continues to work and get paid in spite of the fact he was let go years ago. Someone simply forgot to tell him. Root almost makes the entire film for me.

Of course, a lot of my co-workers don’t find the movie funny at all. They just don’t get it, while I do. For example, I realize that I am spinning my wheels at my job. I work for a huge financial services firm, and am quite content to do what I do every day in my quiet little area. I do well enough monetarily to live a comfortable lifestyle and have no desire to ‘climb the corporate ladder.’ What do I get out of it? Enough time to spend with my family (as I refuse to work overtime or take out of town trips that they cannot accompany me on) and an endless supply of laughter at the stupidity that surrounds me. Not so much from the people I directly work with, but from those at the upper levels. I read the memos, which are always worth a chuckle. I attend the ‘workshops’, and wonder how much this guy gets paid to make me stand in a hoop with my ‘cow’-worker so I can learn the value of teamwork.

I’ll even give you a perfect example, one that I shared recently with Scott Adams. Our firm is implementing a new records management system to help track files. The decision on what system to use was made without consulting any of the ‘records’ people we have working for us. It has been slowly rolled out to many of our offices at great expense. As the program has chugged along, the ‘guys upstairs’ have decided that we have less and less money in the budget and might have to start cutting corners. When we turned in the listing of what components of the system our office would require, we received an email that told us that we might have to cut out the color printer that would be used to print our ‘color-coded side tab labels.’ It was suggested… are you ready… that we print our ‘color-coded side tab labels’ on a black and white printer. As if I didn’t already have an idea that the ‘guys upstairs’ were clueless, I now know they were complete idiots.

Getting back to the subject at hand, Fox is releasing “Office Space” is an all-new DVD edition. Called the ‘Special Edition with Flair’ (see the explanation above), this new version offers up a great new transfer that is much better than the original release. Plus they opted to include a couple of extra features. Not a lot, but worthwhile nonetheless. There are a few deleted scenes (which look terrible) and a nice little featurette that has director Mike Judge and a few members of the cast reminiscing about making the film.

“Office Space” is one of those movies you have to see to believe, and a lot of people either won’t ‘get’ the humor, or will have to pretend not to ‘get’ the humor in order to keep their jobs. Those of us who do ‘get’ it however, will enjoy the heck out of this new edition.

Directed by: Mike Judge
Starring: Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, Gary Cole, Stephen Root
Extras: “Out of the Office”, Deleted Scenes, DVD-Rom: Audio Clips and Screensavers, Theatrical Trailer
Specifications: Widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Fox
Release Date: 11/1/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: R (For Language and Brief Sexuality)
Website

We'll give Office Space an A.