Office Space - The Cult Hit That Keeps On Giving...

There are arguably very few genuine cult films that have been released in the last ten years.

Off the top of my head I would say The Big Lebowski is a good example as it has generated its own festivals and Donnie Darko which came back from its disastrous stateside debut to be a word of mouth hit especially in the UK.

Office Space released in 1999 has become a cult hit which gets bigger every year thanks to word of mouth from disgruntled office workers. Released in 1999 the film was Mike Judge’s live action directorial debut and was a box office disappointment.

Office Space is based on the short Milton cartoons that were created for Saturday Night Live and Liquid Televison by Mike Judge in 1993 The idea for the film was originally to be a straight live action version of Milton but Judge decided to go with an ensemble comedy instead. The film was advertised heavily as being from the creator if Beavis and Butthead and being in a similar vein which sadly did the film few favours.

The film is set amongst the employees of Initech which is a company prone to excessive over management. The company introduces several characters including Peter Gibbons played by Ron Livingstone who is in despair most days as he spends his time listening to several different people ask him if he got memo’s about new report cover sheets.

His partners in crime who share his misery are Michael Bolton (David Herman) who hates his name which he shares with a ‘no talent assclown’ and Samir Nyednanajad (Ajay Naidu) who hates the fact that no-one can pronounce his name. We also meet Milton (Stephen Root) who mumbles constantly and is bitter about losing his stapler and whom the slimy boss Bill Lumbergh (Gary Cole) harasses no end.  Lumbergh brings in ‘The Bobs’ (John C Mcginley and Paul Wilson) who are two management consultants who are there to see who they can lay off.

Peter is stressed and at the end of his rope and convinced he will be laid off. He goes with his girlfriend to a hypnotist to see if he can get some help. During his hypnosis the hypnotist keels over and dies before Peter is brought back and this makes him a completely different person. Suddenly he stays in bed on a Saturday when he has been asked to work, his girlfriend leaves him and he doesn’t care and he turns up to work when he wants. He also plucks up the courage to ask out Joanna (Jennifer Aniston) who works at a nearby TGI Friday type restaurant and suffers many of the humiliations that Peter does on a daily basis. At his meeting with ‘The Bobs’ they decide ironically that he is a ‘real straight shooter with upper management written all over him’ despite his laid back attitude and Lumbergh’s protests. Unfortunately Michael and Samir, two employees who value their jobs are laid off.

The three of them decide to take revenge on Initech by installing a computer virus which will in fact transfer some of the profits from the company into a separate account. Of course this doesn’t exactly go to plan.

When released the film made $10 million at the box office which didn’t even recoup its production costs. Since then the film has become a big hit on DVD. Office workers tend to quote it to each other as it alleviates some of the nonsense that goes along with working in a large corporate office. It’s a shame the film didn’t get much recognition in its initial release as it was two years before Ricky Gervais similar TV series The Office made its debut and it covers a lot of the same ground. One wonders if Gervais saw it before it became a cult success and was inspired by it to create his award winning series. In fact in The Office, Peter Gibbons is mentioned as a previous employee.

Several phrases from the movie have entered popular culture especially in offices. ‘A Case of The Monday’s’ is a good one for the employee who is miserable on the first day of the working week. ‘Pieces of Flair’ is also used to describe the worthless badges that adorn the braces of workers at Pizza Hut and TGI’s. The scene where Peter, Michael and Samir take a printer that constantly breaks down to a field and batter it with a baseball bat is one wish fulfilment scene we can all empathise with.

If you work in an office and haven’t seen this film and work in an office you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy and lend it to your fellow employees (except management). Trust me it will make those Monday’s a hell of lot easier.

Trivia: When Peter is in the meeting room, on the white board behind him there is a complicated flow chart titled "Planning to Plan."