Office Space

Next on the 100 movie bucket list is 1999’s Office Space.

Written and directed by Mike Judge it is a story of three colleagues at a software company, who when they find out the company are going to make redundancies they decide to take their revenge. Based loosely on Judge’s “Milton” comic sketches, Ron Livingston is Peter, disillusioned with his job, alongside his friends the unfortunately named Michael Bolton (David Herman) and Samir (Ajay Naidu). When Peter goes with his girlfriend for occupational hypnotism an incident during the session changes his outlook on love, life and work. The changed Peter finds himself a bizarrely indispensable employee and uses his position to help him and his friends take their revenge on their unpleasant employer.

Office Space was never a particular cinema hit but found its cult status on video. The thing with cult films is those that love them, love them and find them memorable and quotable. But for others they wonder what the fuss is about.

I’m in that second group with Office Space. The disgruntled employee is hardly a new idea(even in 1999), neither is the slacker who stumbles into some success. Office Space placed it into a contemporary setting with some 90’s workplace specific gags, but much of it had been seen before.

It’s in no way terrible, and as someone who worked in a late 90’s office, I did recognise plenty of the humorous moments. The cast is solid enough with the three leads well supported by Diedrich Bader, Gary Cole and Stephen Root amongst others. But it’s nothing special either. But that’s the thing with cult comedies, if you love it, you love it, while it will just pass others by.

Office Space may he a bit of a cult classic, but for me it is just a passable workplace comedy. It does have its humorous moments and laughs. But it’s nothing spectacular and not quite sure how it has ended up on a movie bucket list. Comedy more than most genres is about personal taste and this wasn’t quite to mine.