“Extract”

Rated R (for language, sexual references and some drug use)



Extract is not a laugh-out-loud comedy. It is a “smile-comedy.” It is mellow and rather sweet. It is also worth noting that this film, released on Labor Day weekend, is about the American workplace.

Writer and director, Mike Judge, has an interesting resume. He created the cartoon duo: Beavis and Butthead. Then he created another cartoon comedy: “King of the Hill.” He made a live action film, “Office Space,” which became a cult classic. He also made “Idiocracy,” but that film vanished with hardly a trace.

All of these movies and TV shows feature average Joes — just normal folk. There are no black-hated evil-doers, no grand heroes. There are plenty of dim-witted chuckle-heads and self-absorbed doofuses all of whom would be easily recognizable by one and all.

Our “Everyman,” is Joel (played by Jason Bateman). A former bartender, Joel started a business that makes and bottles extract — as in Vanilla Extract. He has a big house in a nice neighborhood and an attractive wife, Suzie (played by Kristen Wiig). Joel works hard but tries to get home before 8 p.m. because, after that specific hour, his wife shuts off access to marital pleasures by putting on the much-hated gym pants. Being a red-blooded American male he laments this and finds sympathy at the old bar where he worked and a sympathetic ear with old pal Dean (played by a hirsute Ben Affleck).

Dean’s solution to most problems is pharmaceuticals and pot. Our strait-laced hero Joel will have none of it until the booze catches up to him and he accidentally takes a horse tranquilizer. Joel confesses that he has met a new employee who attracts him, sexually. Under the influence of the drug, he agrees to Dean’s suggestion — to hire a gigolo — to seduce his wife, which would make it morally OK to cheat on her. When he sobers up, he tries to call it off, but the profoundly lame-brained lad hired for the task had jumped the schedule and accomplished the deed in record time.

Then an accident occurs on the bottle plant floor. Due to a series of freakish errors by hapless employees, a worker named “Step” has his, uh, gonads shot off by a mechanical projectile.

An impending buy-out by a big corporation is put on hold, delaying big money and early retirement for Joel. To make matters worse, a con woman, Cindy (Mila Kunis) is going after Step to get him to sue Joel’s company, using a sleazy lawyer played by Gene Simmons — yes — that Gene Simmons. Perfect casting, that.

The cast is jam-packed with many other talented actors including J.K. Simmons who plays Joel’s right hand man. His character can’t remember anybody’s names and calls just about all of them “Dingus” (if that is how one spells it) and loves to imitate their abuse of the language. Another jewel is a relenting whiner and slacker employee named Mary (Beth Grant) and the annoying neighbor, Nathan (played by David Koechner), of Joel and Suzie — the kind of neighbor we all wish would move away.

Again, this is not a guffaw-getter. It is just a simple story told amusingly with talented character actors, not to mention, the pleasant Jason Bateman, an actor one can’t help but like. All of the actors are fun to watch. I enjoyed it, but I can’t say, “Extract” is a “must-see.”

Mike Judge’s work is an acquired taste. Quirky, I think, fits the bill for describing his unique work, but entertaining nonetheless. No rollicking comedy this one, just a pleasant way to end the summer.

By the way, Joel’s treatment of his wife’s gigolo at the end of the movie adds an interesting touch to the story. If you go see it, it will make you think.

“Extract” earns a genteel three bow ties out of five.