This movie is original, perfectly captures frustrations and it does not take itself too seriously. It well deserves the cult following it gets. Perhaps not innovative in its cinematography but it has brilliant storytelling and wit. A classic

As I type this, I'm actually sitting in an office being paid to... well, NOT write film reviews (clue: my job involves spreadsheets - yawn). In fact, I've spent much of my adult life sitting in offices looking at spreadsheets while getting paid a bit, but actually trying to make my stay in my swivel chair a little more enjoyable than it actually is. In short... I can totally identify with the characters in the low budget adult comedy 'Office Space.'It predates Ricky Gervais' 'The Office' (or Steve Carrell's slightly later US version) and, although both TV shows expands on what it's like to sit in the same chair at the same boxed-in desk for most of your waking hours, 'Office Space' did it first. And it also did it in a more 'succinct' kind of manner. It didn't have multiple series to flesh out its characters, so, although we may get a few more stereotypes here, doesn't mean they're any the less able to be identified with.It's about... you guessed it - an office worker - just an ordinary guy at an ordinary desk in an ordinary workplace (that could have been filmed around my very person right now). The difference is, that, after years of towing the line and doing what he's told - no matter how unfair - he decides he's had enough. And, by doing so, becomes the hero of everyone in a similar position (i.e. me). He does what so many of us only dream of doing - he rebels and tells his bosses to... I'll let you use your imagination.'Office Space' is great. It's a comedy for adults which plays on many of their very existences. I haven't watched it for a while, but now I have I'm pleased to say that it holds us as well today as it ever did. As long as there are middle management bosses who get their employees to do more work for the same money this film will always be relevant. And, from the twenty or so years I've been sitting here doing just that, I can't see this film EVER not being an accurate portrayal of modern life.Oh, and if you need any additional motivation to watch this - it also has Jennifer Anniston as an equally put-upon waitress, who shows that you don't have to sit behind a desk to be exploited and degraded.Now, if you'll excuse me, I have 'TPS reports' to get on with.

I had seen the poster for this movie numbers of times, I knew obviously the setting, but I was just looking forward to finding out more for myself, written and directed by Mike Judge, creator of Beavis Butt- Head and King of the Hill. Basically at a company called Initech, programmer Peter Gibbons (The Conjuring's Ron Livingston) is frustrated and unmotivated at his job, his co-workers include software engineers Michael Bolton (David Herman) and Samir Nagheenanajar (Ajay Naidu), who also hate Initech, and meek collator Milton Waddams (Stephen Root) who is mostly ignored by all in the office. The staff are constantly mistreated by management, especially by the boss, smarmy and obnoxious vice president Bill Lumbergh (Gary Cole), whom Peter loathes. Peter's agitation is increased by the arrival Bob Slydell (Scrubs' John C. McGinley) and Bob Porter (Paul Willson), two consultants brought in to help the company through downsizing and outsourcing. Peter is persuaded by his girlfriend Anne (Alexandra Wentworth) to attend an occupational hypnotherapy session, therapist Dr. Swanson (Michael McShane) puts Peter in a trance, to feel calmer at work, but the doctor dies of a heart attack before he can bring click his fingers. Peter wakes up the next morning newly relaxed, he ignores repeated phone calls from work, and from Anne, who angrily admits she had been cheating on him and breaks up with him. With his newfound calmness, and skipping work again the following day, Peter decides to ask Joanna (Jennifer Aniston), a waitress at nearby chain restaurant Chotchkie's, out to lunch, they bond over their shared loathing of idiotic management and have a shared love in the TV show Kung Fu. When Peter does finally show up at work, he casually disregards office protocol, including violating Initech's dress code, taking Lumbergh's reserved parking space, refusing to follow directions, and removing a cubicle wall, the consultants however are impressed by his attitude and promote him. The consultants confide that Michael and Samir will lose their jobs, Peter relays this news to them, the three of them decide to get even by infecting the company's accounting system with a virus designed to divert fractions of pennies into a bank account, they believe the transactions are small enough to avoid detection, but over time it will result in a substantial amount of money. At a barbecue, Peter learns that Joanna slept with a colleague, identified as "Lumbergh", he assumes it is his boss (this also seems to trigger the end of his calm state), he is disgusted and confronts her, and she questions his financial scheme, they split up. Peter discovers a bug in the virus Michael created, it has caused them to steal over $300,000 in only a few days, a more conspicuous amount, because Michael put a decimal point in the wrong place, meanwhile Joanna stands up to her boss at Chotchkie's about the stupid flairs policy and she quits. Peter discovers that the "Lumbergh" Joanna slept with is not his boss, he admits to her that the laundering scheme was a bad idea and plans to take responsibility for the crime, Peter and Joanna make up. Peter writes a letter confessing everything and slips it, along with travellers checks for the stolen money, under Lumbergh's door late at night. The next morning, Milton has become more and more dissatisfied with his treatment by management, to the point where he mumbles threats about setting the building on fire. Peter fully expects to be arrested arriving to work, but instead he finds his problem solved, the Initech building is on fire, and all evidence of the missing money has been destroyed. In the end Peter finds a more satisfactory job doing construction work, with his next-door neighbour Lawrence (Diedrich Bader), Samir and Michael find work at Initech's competitor Initrode, and Milton lounges on a beach in a Mexican resort, he mumbles threats after complaining about his beverage. Also starring Richard Riehle as Tom Smykowski, Joe Bays as Dom Portwood, Kinna McInroe as Nina, Todd Duffey as Chotchkie's Waiter, Greg Pitts as Drew and Orlando Jones as Steve. The cast is made up of mostly unknowns, Livingston does well as the bored office worker, Aniston is beautiful and likable, and Cole is suitably irritating as the dreary boss, it is a very simple story about people in an everyday mundane job, and some of the silly routines and rules of the workplace, the jokes are mostly droll and obvious, it does slow a little towards the end, but overall it is an interesting and amusing unconventional satirical comedy. Worth watching!

This movie concerns several employees who work for a large company called "Imitech" which has recently hired some efficiency experts to institute downsizing procedures. For the most part these employees hate their jobs because of a supervisor named "Bill Lumbergh" (Gary Cole) who pretends to listen to them but makes it obvious that he has his own agenda and doesn't care about them in the least. In one particular case an employee named "Peter Gibbons" (Ron Livingston) seeks out a marriage counselor to address some of his problems with both work and his relationship with his girlfriend, "Anne" (Alexandra Wentworth). It's during this time that he is hypnotized into a relaxed state-of-mind for which he is accidentally not awakened from. This results in a totally different mindset for him which changes his relationship with everybody and creates all kinds of problems for those around him. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that, even though they had minor roles, the two characters who really stood out were "Milton Waddams" (Steven Root) and Peter's next-door neighbor "Lawrence" (Diedrich Bader). Both were extremely hilarious. In any case, I thought this was a pretty good comedy and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.