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MOVIE REVIEW

Extract

MPA Rating: R-Rating (MPA) for language, sexual references and some drug use.

Reviewed by: Ethan Samuel Rodgers
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating: Very Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Adults
Genre: Comedy
Length: 1 hr. 31 min.
Year of Release: 2009
USA Release: September 4, 2009 (wide—1,611 theaters)
DVD: December 22, 2009
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Featuring Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Ben Affleck, Kristen Wiig, J.K. Simmons, Clifton Collins Jr., Dustin Milligan, David Koechner, Beth Grant, T.J. Miller, Javier Gutiérrez, Lidia Porto, Gene Simmons, Matt Schulze, Lamberto Gutierrez, Brent Briscoe, Hal Sparks, Nick Thune, Tom Virtue, Christopher Ryan Rocha, Jenny O'Hara, Matthew Williams
Director Mike Judge
Producer 3 Arts Entertainment, F+A Productions, Ternion Pictures, John Altschuler, Michael Flynn, Dave Krinsky, Tom Lassally, Glenn Lucas, Michael Rotenberg, Bergen Swanson
Distributor Distributor: Miramax. Trademark logo.Miramax, a division of beIN Media Group

“100% pure Mike Judge. A comedy with a flavor of its owns.”

Between his films (“Office Space”) and his television shows (“King of the Hill”), Mike Judge has got an impressive resume. His latest installment in the film genre, “Extract,” however, falls short of his previous work, never hitting any emotional or comical nerves, and will surely leave you more frustrated than a man with one foot picking out a pair of shoes.

Joel (Jason Bateman) is a business man, and he works with extracts: vanilla, almond, root beer, etc. An entrepreneur and extract enthusiast, he built his own company, “Reynold’s Extract,” from the ground up and has built what seems to be the American dream around him. But there are some problems with this perfect dream that quickly add up to a pile of depressing obstacles.

Ultimately, it boils down to this: his wife, Suzie (Kristen Wiig), no longer has an intimate relationship with him, he wants to sell the factory so he can retire but there’s after a factory accident he’s being sued to where he could be bankrupted, the new girl he hires and is attracted to is a con-artist, the workers are threatening to go on strike, and his best friend, Dean (Ben Affleck), tries to help Joel only by convincing him drugs are the answer to mellowing him out. One decision leads to another, and things get worse and worse.

“Extract” really is a disjointed comedy at its core. Attempting to follow multiple story lines throughout the course of the film and weave them together to create a satisfying ending in a Cohen Brothers style fashion seemed to be the initial plan, but it fails for lack of character development and cohesiveness in plot and leans more toward the sophomoric style of story telling: i.e., “this happened, then this happened, then this happened, and then this happened.”

The film’s real purpose is to be a social commentary on rural/working class America. It shows the failing marriage, a dissatisfied man who has plenty of money with neighbors he hates in a neighborhood he hates, the angry workers, the hopelessness of life, and of course the young beautiful girl who seems to be the only answer to life’s problems. The conclusion to this film lacks any real hope or happiness, however, for a number of reasons, most notably the fact that although Joel solves the problems in his marriage with Suzie, she cheats on him 15 times with the pool boy trying to figure out what she wants in her life.

Surprisingly this film earns an “R” rating. Three F bombs and a few S***’s but other than that the language wasn’t too bad (considering the premise and the film genre). The sexual side of the film was purely innuendo, as there were no sexual scenes or nudity, and although sex was a focal point in the film, it was discussed only and never shown. The drug and alcohol use may be the true reason for the R rating, unfortunately. Constant drinking, pill taking and bong smoking is littered throughout the script, but, for the most part, is largely unnecessary for the progression of the story.

Realistically, “Extract” is really just another not-so-standout comedy in a sea of new material emerging right now. It’s not notoriously inappropriate, but it’s also not split-sides funny, either. I suppose the one word review would just be “Eh.” The story creeps along to a boring conclusion, making few stops along the way that make you think about the social structure in America, or that make you chuckle or smile amidst the despair of a decent man’s life in which nothing goes right. Disorganized, disinteresting, humorous, yet ultimately dissatisfying, “Extract” is a social message in a bottle the American public will never receive.

Violence: Minor / Profanity: Heavy / Sex/Nudity: Heavy

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Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Positive

none

Neutral
Neutral—I watched this movie with my husband, because we both liked the movie “Office Space.” This is a tricky movie to review. I think it’s kind of a black comedy. Where you find yourself laughing about things that in real life are very much not funny. We definitely laughed during the film, and we weren’t bored. But we also would not watch it again.

Jason Bateman executes his role to perfection, playing a character in an empty marriage, bored with his job, and aimless in life. He does not want to end his marriage, but feels cut off from his wife and lonely. *spoilers* when high on special K he agrees to hire a guy to clean the pool and see if his wife will be faithful or not (that way if she cheats first he won’t feel bad about wanting to stray—when sober he also said he didn’t want to cheat and didn’t want this, and once sober he tried to stop it from happening).

The tricky thing about this movie is that it places no moral judgment on any of the character’s actions. It just depicts their lives. The consequences are kind of glossed over. So in the end I’d say, if you didn’t mind “Knocked Up,” “Smart People,” or the host of other R rated movies released that fall into the same category, you probably won’t mind this movie. Otherwise, this movie will be uncomfortable and offensive.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3½
JB, age 33 (USA)
Negative
Negative—I agree with your reviewer that this movie is an “eh” movie. Jason Bateman is very good in his role, as is J. K. Simmons in the supporting role of his business associate (actually in a spectacular performance, as always), but Bateman’s role is that of a husband pimping off his wife to a gigolo so he can feel guilt-free having an affair with a pretty new employee. At most, I should have waited for this to be on TV. Definitely not worth the admission fee. What was I thinking?
My Ratings: Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3½
Halyna Barannik, age 63 (USA)
Movie Critics
……has some funny moments and unusual characters, but it is marred by a very strong pagan worldview with many sexual references that glorifies stealing and other immoral behavior. …
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