Extract Review (Classic Write-Up)

Extract, Extract, Read All About It!

Once I finished watching Extract, I was left with this peculiar sense of unfulfillment. It's not that this 2009 Mike Judge feature was particularly bad or something, it's just that, by the end, very little of notable value had really happened. The characters weren't that notable, the laughs weren't too hearty and the plot didn't feel particularly exceptional. In fact, the story, in its execution, struck me as fodder for an episode of a sitcom in its seventh season than a major motion picture.

Thanks to his immense success in the film industry though the cult status his various movies have achieved, Judge assembles some pretty talented actors here, including Jason Bateman as the lead, Joel, the owner of an extract company whose feeling like his life (namely his marriage to Suzie, whose played by Kristen Wiig) are subpar. Bateman has found a lot of success in comedy playing schlubs who think they're more morally right than they truly are, most notably in his turn as George Bluth on Arrested Development.

That would make it seem like Joel would be a character right up Batemans alley, but there's really no reason given as to why I should root for this guy or even find him interesting to watch. His faults are only compounded once, after plot turns that reap negative consequences for Joel occur, he gets more agitated towards everyone in his life, primarily Suzie. If some of the antics here were delivered in a manner that generated laughs or pathos, they'd be more tolerable, but as it stands, Joel as a character drags the film down considerably.

Mila Kunis, playing Cindy, a woman who uses her cunning wit and attractiveness to steal various objects, doesn't exactly fare any better in the plot, with her primarily serving as a way to drum up conflict for Joel (as one might imagine, he fancies Cindy and wants to cheat on Suzie for her) and then get him laid. That specific plot point doesn't drum up anything at all plotwise; after the two spend the night together, Cindy isn't even seen again, leaving her storyline abruptly concluded.

The rest of the supporting cast have a lot more success in creating a noteworthy presence within the movie, including J.K. Simmons, Kristen Wiig and namely Ben Affleck, playing a kind of character I've never seen him play before, that of a dim-witted but trying to be "helpful" friend. Affleck makes the casualness of his character so natural, the various lines he rattles off can't help but be funny. He's one of the few parts of Extract that I really found to have any sort of effort to it, with the rest of this film not being bad, but just sort of punctual in a forgettable sort of manner.