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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Review: Shallow characters doom Judge’s ‘Extract’

Ben Affleck stars as Dean the bartender, left, and Jason Bateman plays Joel Reynold in “Extract."  (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Christy Lemire Associated Press

Ten years ago, Mike Judge satirized the absurdities of the workplace experience from the perspective of put-upon employees with “Office Space.”

It didn’t do much when it came out but became a cult favorite on cable and home video, to the point where it changed the way you looked at the common stapler.

Now, Judge is back to the daily grind with “Extract,” but this time he tells his wacky working tales from the boss’ point of view: that of Jason Bateman’s Joel Reynold, owner of a flavor extract factory.

It’s doubtful that this comedy will grab its audience in the same way, though. Judge’s characters are so one-note and their misadventures so ridiculous that it’s hard to get attached to them or care about how they turn out.

They include:

• Step (Clifton Collins Jr.), a doofus who prides himself on being the company’s fastest sorter but dreams of being promoted to floor manager;

•Cindy (Mila Kunis), a sexy but sociopathic con artist who weasels her way into Joel’s factory with a scheme to make money off a serious accident;

•Rory (T.J. Miller), a pierced-and-tatted goth rocker who’s too busy handing out flyers for his latest show to do his job; and

•Mary (Beth Grant), an assembly-line worker who complains in a nasally twang about everyone else slacking, even though she’s probably the least productive employee of all.

Bateman functions in his patented exasperated everyman mode, similar to his Michael Bluth character on “Arrested Development,” only without the smart, surreal dialogue.

Joel is proud of the company he founded but finds himself unhappy at work and thinking about selling to General Mills. At the same time, his nonexistent sex life with frosty wife Suzie (a thoroughly underused Kristen Wiig) has him pondering adulterous thoughts about the flirty Cindy.

His best friend Dean (Ben Affleck), a suave bartender at a generic hotel sports grill, suggests that Joel hire a gigolo (Dustin Milligan) to sleep with Suzie, thereby giving him license to cheat on her.

On the other end of the freak-show spectrum is Nathan (David Koechner), Joel’s nerdy neighbor from across the street, who keeps hounding him and Suzie about attending the annual Rotary Club banquet (“It’s just a real loose bunch”).

The scenes between Bateman and Koechner are unbelievably cringeworthy. But they also suggest the kind of movie “Extract” might have been if Judge had dared to throw in a little more flavor throughout, and not just relied on deadpan inanity.