So let's just never go to work..

Office Space (1999) – A Review

Director ~ Mike Judge

Producers ~ Daniel Rappaport, Michael Rotenberg

Writers ~ Mike Judge

Starring ~ Ron Livingstone, Jennifer Anniston, Stephen Root, Gary Cole

Quite possibly one of the funniest films I have seen, Office Space mocks an archetypal office environment in the 1990s. With a script full of hilarious gags, the cast does a good job of portraying bored, disgruntled employees. The personalities are so magnified in this enclosed world of cubicles to the point that the characters are almost caricature-like.  

The protagonist is Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingstone), an underachiever trapped in an unsatisfying relationship and a dull job at a software company. His girlfriend, Anne, makes him go to ‘occupational hypnotherapy’ to help him cope with his feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy. During a session his hypnotherapist dies of a heart attack before he can ‘snap’ Peter out of his trance. Thus Peter remains in this state of complete relaxation and decides that he simply will not go to work, ignores his unfaithful, nagging girlfriend and finally asks out Joanna (Jennifer Aniston), a waitress at an annoyingly spirited TGI-Friday style restaurant. His uncaring, honest attitude to his job results in him getting promoted and his harder working friends getting sacked heightening the ridiculousness of the movie. So they plot to get back at their condescending boss, Bill Lumbergh (who is played incredibly by Gary Cole) with an elaborate money laundering scheme. 

It is a relatable film for anyone who has worked in a dissatisfying job where your computer shuts down for no reason, you get told to look over the same piece of work by several people and are forced to have ‘fun’ office days. It is one of the most quotable films I have ever seen; hence the rather extensive list below, and has a silly, easy to follow plot. A sympathetic satire of the monotonous lives of average people, I found it incredibly entertaining and witty.

 Favourite Quotes ~

Tom Smykowski: It was a ‘Jump to Conclusions’ mat. You see, it would be this mat that you would put on the floor... and would have different ‘Conclusions’ written on it that you could ‘Jump to’. 
Michael Bolton: That's the worst idea I've ever heard in my life, Tom.

Lawrence: Well, you don't need a million dollars to do nothing, man. Take a look at my cousin: he's broke, don't do shit. 

Michael Bolton: Peter, you're in deep shit. You were supposed to come in on Saturday. What were you doing? 
Peter Gibbons: Michael, I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything that I thought it could be. 

Peter Gibbons: I can't believe what a bunch of nerds we are. We're looking up "money laundering" in a dictionary. 

Bill Lumbergh: Oh, oh, and I almost forgot. Ah, I'm also gonna need you to go ahead and come in on Sunday, too...

Samir: Is there some way to just give the money back? 
Peter Gibbons: What? You mean just hand them a check for the exact amount they're missing? I think they'd figure that out.