Such is the case with Office Space, the new film from Mike Judge about, well, younger Dilberts. And like Judge's other work, "Beavis & Butthead" and "King of the Hill," it's hilarious at first, but after a while it's the same old joke over and over again, and it gets tired real fast. There's not one, but TWO characters who reprise the hippie teacher's "mmmmkay?" tic from B&B. As a half-hour short, this would have been highly entertaining. But a lame plot and a cast mined from sitcom-land sink it.
Basically, it's about this guy Pete who decides one day that he doesn't like his job as a software programmer and "I'm not going to go any more." Perversely, this results in his getting a promotion -- and his friends getting fired. They decide to get revenge on the company. (This isn't giving away anything you haven't seen in the previews -- which, come to think of it, give away most of the best jokes, too.) Pete is played by the guy from Swingers who's not Vince Vaughn or Jon Favreau. His girlfriend is played by Jennifer Aniston, who didn't make me want to slap her for almost five minutes (a new record). Oswald from "The Drew Carey Show" really sucks as Pete's neighbor, and Jimmy James from "NewsRadio" does some bizarre schtick as a bad-skinned, squirrelly employee in a performance that makes you say, "Whatever."
Sure, it made me laugh (watching three computer geeks gettin' jiggy with gansta rap is worth the price of admission... but then, I saw it for free) and I guess if you're not too demanding it's an okay way to spend a few hours. But what it comes down to is that jokes about faceless-corporation workplaces are just too easy -- there's nothing fresh here.
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