Extract 2009

A.O. Scott, At the Movies: There are so many good jokes packed in there. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Mike Judge's Extract -- modest, no big deal but very savvy -- is the funniest American comedy of the summer. Read more

Scott Von Doviak, Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com: A "sympathy for the boss" comedy could conceivably work, but Judge has neglected to supply the laughs this time around. Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: Some will find Judge's politics liberal; some will suggest they're conservative; I would simply say that they're American, in the best possible sense of the word, and Frank Capra might have found a lot to admire in "Extract," even with the d--- jokes. Read more

Joanne Kaufman, Wall Street Journal: Mr. Judge has done better, more pointed work before, notably in the cult-favorite workplace comedy Office Space. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Extract has its moments, but not enough of them. Think I'll go ahead and watch Office Space again. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Ten years after Office Space flopped in theaters, only to find the passionate following it deserved down the line, Extract finds Judge returning triumphantly to the workplace comedy. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: A curious combination of workplace comedy and midlife crisis, it's not as good as [Judge's] best work -- the characters are too one-dimensional -- but the laughs are generous and genuine. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: There's classic screwball comedy lurking in this material, a cynic's recognition that the world runs crookedly. But the movie is logy and repetitive. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: While Extract is mildly amusing and a slice of a mostly working-class world that doesn't make it into comedy that much anymore, it's not completely convincing as a movie. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Mike Judge has become our most dogged examiner of middle-American foolishness; no other comedy filmmaker more skillfully exploits that nagging sense that you're surrounded by idiots. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: There are some priceless character turns. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The result doesn't seem as fresh as Office Space, but Judge still comes up with enough laughs to deserve our attention. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: These days, it appears to be a rare gift to do comedy in a way that comes across as smart, but never superior or willfully crass. Bateman has that talent to spare. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: It has all the ingredients for cult immortality and will likely live on long after this year's Oscar winners are forgotten. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Didn't Judge realize that Extract, with its plastic setups and one-dimensional harpies, plays like Kevin Smith remaking a bad George Segal comedy from 1978? Read more

Laremy Legel, Film.com: Read more

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: A little morally perverse under the surface, as Bateman learns that one of the keys to happiness is an attitude of "Let them eat cherry-flavored cake." Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Mike Judge's Extract has some huge belly laughs, a terrific ensemble cast and more than a few instances of inspired comic brilliance. So why doesn't the movie ever really take off? Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: The entire cast, in fact, seems to be having fun, with Affleck and Koechner cheerfully stealing each one of their scenes. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Extract is a real tour de force for Bateman, who finally has a big-screen role that plays to his Arrested Development strength -- a guy dismayed at how moronic those around him can be. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: A mix of coolheaded cultural satire and anxiety-inducing workplace and marital shenanigans, Extract is an odd project. It's smarter than most of the comedies out there right now, but that doesn't necessarily make it funnier. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The problem with the film is that, as satires go, this one has blunt teeth. It's funny, but not as funny as it should be. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: A comedy need not be believable. But it needs to seem as if it's believable at least to itself. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Right in time for the economic downturn comes Extract, a smart and potently funny workplace comedy about running a small business just as small businesses get routinely run into the ground. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: This isn't a misanthropic picture; its true subject is the way love for our fellow human beings is so often thwarted by their actual behavior -- and still, stupidly perhaps, we just won't give up on them. Read more

Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle: Extract isn't an instant classic, but it bumps along agreeably, its humor culled from serial bad decisions, mock-romantic discontent and lots of spirited overacting ripe with good intentions. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: Like Judge's first two live-action films, Extract seems destined to do minor business at the box office but achieve a kind of immortality as a cult DVD. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Bateman suffers under an ever-mounting pile of indignities with strained patience. Most viewers will probably view the fitfully amusing movie the same way. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: That has the makings of a deliciously dark comedy, but Judge lets the premise simply drift away like a pothead's train of thought. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Mocking an officious middle-manager is always fair game; ridiculing blue-collar workers who resent their mindless jobs just feels mean. Read more

Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine: Judge's gifts parallel those of his leading man. His plotting is full of funny, unpredictable moments but lacks the grating hysteria of the comic genre. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, Time Out: Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Read more

Christopher Orr, The New Republic: [Extract] resembles its titular foodstuffs: less a fully realized comedy than the distillation of one. The ingredients are there, and the recipe as well, but Judge evidently forgot that the whole dish still needed cooking. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Judge may not have the workplace comedy down as smoothly as, say, Judd Apatow does with relationship comedies, but he has an ear for comical dialogue and an eye for a top-notch ensemble cast. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: The pic's attempts at comic portraiture feel sketchy at best, more or less assigning each character a single, belabored trait. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: Here for Labor Day -- a comedy about the hilarity and heartbreak of running a small business. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: 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. Read more