Writer/director Mike Judge’s third film, Extract, is an amicable workplace comedy that serves as the perfect companion piece to his 1999 cult classic, Office Space. Much like Office Space, Extract is the story of an average guy only this time around he’s the employer, not the employee. Judge has always excelled at wringing the humor and silliness of everyday life and he is back in fine form with this film.

Jason Bateman stars as Joel, the owner of an extract company who has to deal with a multitude of personal and professional problems. He has built his company to the point where he may be able to sell it and retire and finally enjoy his life. Unfortunately, just as negotiations are about to start, faithful employee, Step (Clifton Collins Jr.) loses his testicle from a freak accident on the factory floor. Joel must now wait and see if Step is going to sue the company before he can sell the plant.   Making matters worse is that new temp, Cindy (Mila Kunis), a con artist by trade, is trying to convince Step to sue so that she can steal the money from him. She is also flirting up a storm with Joel who has thoughts of cheating on his wife because….

Things aren’t too wonderful at home either. Joel’s wife Suzie (Kristen Wiig) has completely lost interest in him and they hardly ever have sex. Joel also has to contend with the world’s most annoying neighbor (David Koechner) who just doesn’t seem to ever take a hint. Joel becomes desperate and lost and confides to his friend Dean (Ben Affleck) who spends all of his time high on prescription drugs or weed. Dean convinces Joel to get high with him and then gives him the world’s worst advice which Joel acts upon in his drug stupor. Let’s just say the plan involves a male prostitute posing as a pool boy and as you can imagine things don’t go exactly to plan. All of this sounds pretty heavy and not the stuff that great comedy is made of, but Judge handles it all with a deft touch, not to mention the cast of seasoned pros who help sell it all for laughs.

It is great to finally see Jason Bateman in a lead role (I’m not counting Teen Wolf Too) and he effortlessly carries the film. The character of Joel is pretty much an extension of the responsible adult/straight man to all the lunatics surrounding him that he played to brilliant effect on the critically acclaimed series, Arrested Development. Bateman is charming as always and his comic timing is above reproach. Ben Affleck as pill popping bartender Dean is a riot and it is obvious the actor had a great time playing the part. Affleck is able to squeeze the humor out of every line, big or small, and manages to steal every scene that he is in.  Mila Kunis is quite believable as con artist Cindy but I would like to have seen her have some funny moments as well. She has grown into quite the capable comedic actress and her talent is under used here. The rest of the cast is on top of their game as well. David Koechner as the annoying neighbor is… well… perfectly annoying and J.K. Simmons as Joel’s partner is a riot. He can’t remember any of the employees’ names, so he calls them all Dinkus instead. Kristen Wiig gives a fine performance as Joel’s distant wife, but much like Kunis, her comic talents aren’t fully utilized. 

Not everything is resolved by the end and the film isn’t wrapped up in a tidy, story book fashion, but is life ever that simple. The last third of Extract plays more like a light drama than an hysterical comedy and by and large it works. The characters are so likable and fleshed out that you can’t help but get wrapped up in them.

To sum it up, Extract isn’t exactly a side splitting, uproarious comedy but more a well thought out character study about an average guy who’s ready to break out of the bland everyday existence he finds himself in. There are quite a few laughs along the way, but mostly Extract is a charming and amusing film about life.