Friday, February 19, 1999
Screen Scene
"Office Space"
Starring Ron Livingston and Jennifer Aniston
Directed by Mike Judge
Mike Judge began writing "Office Space" while working as an
engineer in a small cubicle in a massive office building, and the
frustration he must have felt as a drone for a faceless corporation
comes through in every scene of the completed film. A more subtle
film than one would normally have expected from the wacky,
off-the-wall Judge, "Office Space" succeeds in finding some levity
out of the daily grind, though it lacks the momentum or wit to
propel its premise into a truly memorable comedy.
This premise is simple enough: Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston)
hates his job as a computer programmer for the large, faceless
INITECH corporation. Along with several co-workers and his new
girlfriend (Jennifer Aniston), he schemes to not only organize his
own firing, but to embezzle thousands of dollars from the company
bank account.
"Office Space" is the first live-action feature directed by
Judge, best known for his animated creations "Beavis and Butthead"
and "King of the Hill." Though he is a newcomer to the world of
flesh and bone, he does an adequate job providing his mostly
amateur cast (which includes "Swingers" alum Livingston and
"Newsradio’s" Stephen Root with some direction, and a few scenes
are actually staged quite well.
His screenplay, as well, proves fairly amusing for most of its
running time, though the film’s final half-hour could have stood a
few extra rewrites. One particular problem on the writing level is
Judge’s willingness to trade in reality for an extra laugh. "Office
Space," in order for its special brand of frustrated humor,
requires the audience to sympathize with these laborers and
understand their plight. However, because Judge randomly interrupts
the reality of several sequences (one scene with a crack-addicted
salesman, though funny, requires complete suspension of belief) for
some small comedic payoff.
Judge’s debut does work for most of its running time, and a few
scenes are guaranteed laughs for anyone who has ever suffered at
the hands of a tyrannical boss demanding hard labor for slave
wages.
Lonnie Harris
Rating: 6
"Jawbreaker"
Starring Rose McGowan and Rebecca Gayheart
Directed by Darren Stein
Beautiful girls, expensive sports cars and accidental murder.
Welcome to the fast-paced life of Reagan High School’s most
powerful and popular clique.
In homage to the high school films of the ’80s, and a direct
descendant of "Heathers" and "Clueless," writer/director Darren
Stein’s "Jawbreaker" begins on the birthday of Liz Purr, one of
Reagan High’s most beautiful and popular girls. Liz is loved by the
student body for being not only amazingly beautiful, but also
amazingly nice.
Her three uber-popular girlfriends, Courtney Shane (Rose
McGowan), Julie Freeman (Rebecca Gayheart), and Marcie Fox (Julie
Benz), decide to kidnap her and stuff her full of pancakes at a
local diner as a birthday morning surprise. Unfortunately shoving a
jawbreaker in her mouth and covering it with duck tape, then
throwing her in the trunk of their car doesn’t turnout to be the
best birthday wake-up call when the girls discover the nicest
member of their gorgeous, sassy foursome has died from choking on
the jawbreaker on the way to the pancake house.
And so begins Stein’s flashy tale of popularity, superficiality,
beauty and homicide amongst the high school set. Stein uses a
fast-paced, colorful style that suits a film about the superficial
decadence that goes along with adolescent popularity. The cute
teenagers and stylized, day-glo sheen are directly reminiscent of
"Clueless."
Stein employs the Donna’s, an all-girl teen-aged rock band, to
keep the film’s background music appropriately upbeat for the MTV
generation. But for all his desire to keep the film fast paced and
fun – which it is for the most part – the film somehow lacks that
extra spark of originality that turns a run-of-the-mill high school
movie into a "Heathers" or "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."
For their part, the actors are all more than competent in their
high school characterizations. Especially fun are the satiric
slow-motion sequences in which the popular girls strut down the
school hall with the haughty, disaffected look of models on the
Paris runway. McGowan is enjoyably nasty as the catty, domineering
leader of the clique, but the real standout is newcomer Judy Evans
Greer as Fern Mayo, the class nerd turned popular glam-girl. Her
transformation from shy, awkward outcast to cooler-than-thou,
self-involved diva reminds us all of the destructive desire for
popularity that has wrought havoc on the souls of high school
students throughout time.
Stein attempts to create a witty, darkly humorous Faustian tale
for the high school set – and he is fairly successful – but in
paying homage to so many of his favorite high school films,
"Jawbreaker" has little of its own new voice to offer.
Ricky Herzog
Rating: 7Twentieth Century Fox
Ron Livingston stars as a computer programmer who cannot endure
another day of work in "Office Space."
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