IDIOCRACY

Originally published in Verbicide issue #19

20th Century Fox Studios
84 min., dir. by Mike Judge, with Luke Wilson, Dax Shepard, and Maya Rudolph

More than seven years since Office Space became an instant classic, Mike Judge makes his triumphant return to the silver screen. Well, almost. Although originally planned to be released in theatres nationwide, Fox Studios decided to cancel the film’s premiere resulting in a straight-to-DVD movie. But Judge fans rejoiced as the long awaited release date finally arrived and audiences were at last able to view what Judge has been up to since the days of Milton and Lumberg.

But was the wait worth it? Did Judge live up to all the anticipation? It may turn out that the allegiances for and against this new comedy will be split directly down the middle. The haters will be made of those who were expecting an Office Space sequel, only to find that Idiocracy owns up to a brand of humor all its own. Judge revisits some older material of the “Beavis and Butthead” era by creating a world where everyone has become as stupid as the two teenage “heroes” of the famous ‘90s cartoon.

In truth, I, too, was at first taken aback at what I was seeing when I first put Idiocracy into my DVD player. That is not to say there weren’t some signs of familiarity right from beginning, the most obvious being Luke Wilson playing the army solider Joe Bauers. Bauers — the epitome of an “Average Joe” — participates as a test subject in a government cryogenic freezing hibernation program that will have him thawed out in exactly one year. Unfortunately for Joe, the program’s funding goes under and the frozen solider is completely forgotten about for 500 years. When Joe awakens, he discovers that the citizens of Earth have become incredibly dumb over the years, to the point where Joe is easily the smartest person in the world.

My initial reaction to this zany plot was, word for word, “This movie is incredibly stupid.” But even as the thought was still making its way through my head, I realized the film was succeeding in what it set out to do: amaze me with its portrayal of intense stupidity. Had Judge decided to “smarten” the film in any way, the choice would’ve ultimately hurt the entire point of the story. With Office Space, Judge proved to be a voyeur of the real world when he showed us all to familiar characters we encounter everyday at work. With Idiocracy, the director gives us a glimpse of a future that is hard to determine whether it’s funny or frighteningly accurate. Imagine a world where people speak in a language made up of hillbilly, valley girl, and street slang. Imagine a world where people drink more Gatorade than water because it has “electrolytes.” Sound familiar? I didn’t no whether to laugh or shake my head when I realized the idiotic banter of the people of 2505 sounded just like the majority of the conversations I hear everyday.

A handful of cameos of Office Space alumni, which include the always hilarious Stephen Root, David Herman, and an almost unrecognizable Gregg Pitts (who you may remember for sharing his “O” face with Peter Gibbons) combine to compliment the starring lineup of Wilson, Dax Shepard, and Maya Rudolph. Shepard gives a convincing portrayal of a man of his idiotic time who through a twist of fate becomes Joe Bauers’s right hand man. I had previously regarded Shepard to be a no-talent hack who only belonged in MTV generation films co-starring Sean William Scott. But after viewing Idiocracy and the recent Bob Odenkirk comedy, Let’s Go to Jail, Shepard seems to be proving my original opinions wrong. Even “SNL” alum Maya Rudolph, who I didn’t really think deserved any on-screen time just yet in her career, plays a prostitute/object of Joe’s affection quite well. Judge seemed to know not to give Rita (Rudolph) too much time in front of the camera but worked her laughs in at just at the right moments. This tactic may help Rudolph in the long run, letting her ease into the hearts of audiences one supporting role at a time. Not like Jimmy Fallon, who after his nice small cameo in Almost Famous was force-fed to us with horrible starring performances. Let’s just hope Rudolph doesn’t poison her career with films like Taxi or Fever Pitch.

Fans of Luke Wilson won’t be disappointed by his “common guy in an uncommon situation” routine, and you’ll even be treated to a performance by the seldom seen oldest Wilson brother, Andrew.

Is Idiocracy as good as Office Space? The answer is no. But to disregard this new comedy solely on that information would be a horrible mistake. Normally, I would recommend to wait for this movie come out on DVD, but I suppose that was never an issue. So whether you’re a Netflix guy or the Blockbuster-on-the-corner kind of guy, do yourself a favor and have some fun by checking out Idiocracy.