Extract
Mike Judge, who directed the cult-classic Office Space, returns with another comedy about work. Jason Bateman plays the owner of a flavor-extract factory who struggles to keep his company afloat and his sex life alive.
Directed by Mike Judge
(R)
***
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A factory owner struggles against routine
Extract may be the “most disappointing American comedy of the decade,” said Dan Zak in The Washington Post. Ten years after his cult-classic Office Space, writer-director Mike Judge returns with a “jokeless” comedy about work. Jason Bateman plays the owner of a flavor-extract factory who struggles to keep his company afloat and his sex life alive. What might have been a farce about asinine antics on the assembly line instead is a film “too timid to be black comedy, too inert to be slapstick.” There are actually plenty of laughs here, said Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune. Extract just opts for a “sly and wry” approach. Judge achieves a “higher grade of ridicule, maintaining one foot in the real world.” The plotting is “deceptively clever,” the jokes are “off-center,” and Bateman’s performance as an “Everyman” is subtle and perfectly timed. It’s the kind of humor that doesn’t always succeed at the box office, said Dana Stevens in Slate.com. But Extract will likely achieve a “kind of immortality as a cult DVD”—which probably suits its director just fine.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why are military experts so interested in Ukraine's drone attack?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The Zelenskyy government's massive surprise assault on Russian airfields was a decisive tactical victory — could it also be the start of a new era in autonomous warfare?
-
Critics push back as the government goes after Job Corps
The Explainer For at-risk teens, the program has been a lifeline
-
5 horror movies to sweat out this summer
The Week Recommends A sequel, a reboot and a follow up from the director of 'Barbarian' highlight the upcoming scary movie slate