Office Space

Directed by Mike Judge, Office Space follows Ron Livingston’s Peter Gibbons as he adopts a decidedly relaxed attitude towards his mindless job after attending a hypnosis session with his soon-to-be-ex (Alexandra Wentworth’s Anne). It’s an oddball premise that is, for the most part, employed to exceedingly pleasant and sporadically hilarious effect by Judge, as the filmmaker, making his live-action debut here, delivers an affable comedy that’s been suffused with a whole host of agreeable, engaging elements – with the uniformly personable performances and smattering of laugh-out-loud funny bits going a long way towards perpetuating the compulsively watchable atmosphere. Livingston’s completely charming turn as the everyman protagonist is matched by a stellar roster of periphery players, as Judge does an effective job of eliciting top-notch work from folks like Jennifer Aniston, Stephen Root, John C. McGinley, and Gary Cole. (It’s the latter, cast as Peter’s deliciously smug boss, who ultimately walks away with the title of M.V.P.) And although the movie does run out of steam in its plot-heavy third act, with a fake break-up and Peter’s scheme to rip off his company taking up far more time than one might’ve preferred, Office Space has long-since cemented its place as an entertaining workplace comedy that’s bursting with relevant, relatable asides and several almost iconic bits of silliness.

*** out of ****