OFFICE SPACE

Directed by Mike Judge

Starring Ron Livingston, Jennifer

Aniston

20th Century Fox Pictures

Mike Judge, the creator of "Beavis and Butthead" and "King of the Hill," has carved a niche out for himself in the entertainment business. He has a dubious knack for illuminating that side of America which may be better left in the dark. However, in his first live-action feature, Office Space, Judge demonstrates that while he still has an eye for social maladies, he lacks the talent needed to create "real" characters and a credible story.

Office Space explores the existential despair of human beings confined to anonymous cubicles in myriad, analogous corporations across the country. The protagonist, Peter Gibbons, played by everyman Ron Livingston, is fed-up with the endless paper shuffling at corporate nightmare Initech, his unctuously sinister boss Bill Lumberg (Gary Cole) and, in short, his life in general. Gibbons' arguments against the system are blandly familiar and add nothing new to the common polemics against human automatism. But Gibbons' main function is to give the similarly disillusioned audience an easily identifiable character. And the audience at this particular viewing (mostly 20-somethings) were consistently muttering, "Oh yeah, I hate that!", and I could almost feel them nudging their neighbors and rolling their eyes. The problem with Office Space is that it doesn't progress beyond this recognizable superficiality. There are laughs, yes, but most of them are telegraphed--too cheap and easy to satisfy a more detached and demanding moviegoer. (Incidentally, Judge shows us just how much mileage it's possible to get out of average jokes).

And then there are the supporting characters--amazingly transformed into walking and talking jokes and little more. Judge glaringly neglects these personages, especially Gibbons' buddies at Initech, Samir (Ajay Naidu) and the nominally cursed Michael Bolton (David Herman). The cast of Office Space is, essentially, a cast of cartoon characters or caricatures, only two of which arguably come off: Lumberg and Milton (Steven Root), a pathetic co-worker at Initech who is bound for disgruntled postal worker or serial killer status.

The impetus for the story begins when Gibbons relents to his yuppie girlfriend's importuning and visits an occupational hypnotherapist. On the verge of taking Gibbons under, the corpulent therapist keels over and dies of a heart attack. However, Gibbons remains unfazed and leaves the office in a Zen state of unshakable relaxation, having finally decided simply "not to go" to his job. The transition is complete when he breaks up with the girlfriend and begins courting a waitress, played by Jennifer Aniston, who fits in perfectly with this under-talented cast. Gibbons does return to work, however, and his new attitude inexplicably impresses two new executives hired to clean house at Initech, resulting in his promotion and the release of Samir and Michael. Now vowing revenge on the company, the three friends plant a computer virus that rounds off transactions and places the excess money into an account (sound familiar?). Predictably, things get really screwed up but are miraculously resolved in an event which should hardly be a surprise.

Although Judge's best efforts to tackle the corporate monolith fall far short of the mark, the movie does have redeeming qualities, such as a tough soundtrack including classic Geto Boys tracks. But more importantly, Office Space raises some interesting questions which, judging by the frequency of editorials in this newspaper, are preoccupying the minds of many young people. The fact is, as the tagline emphatically states, "work sucks," and none of us wants to become another name in another cubicle in another corporation. Some might ask if we have a choice. Of course we have a choice, it's just that often the choice is between compromising either our ideals or our standard of living--and everyone understandably wants both. What bothers me, though, are those audience members who laughed in commiseration with Gibbons and forgot about him a moment after leaving the theater. Although they may not know it, they are Samir and Michael, who, after the smoke has cleared (literally), join another technology corporation and eagerly jump back into the rut they have temporarily escaped. For those who are willing to look unflinchingly in the mirror, I suggest taking a hint from Gibbons' final career switch to construction work. Although this is admittedly drastic, isn't it too easy to laugh sometimes?