From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Office Space
Office Space
Office Space Box office $10,827,810 domestic[1], $2,000,000
international[2], $6,000,000 in DVD and
VHS sales[2] since February 12, 2006[3]
Office Space is a 1999 American comedy film satirizing
work life in a typical 1990s software company. Written
and directed by Mike Judge, it focuses on a handful of in-
dividuals fed up with their jobs portrayed by Ron Livin-
gston, Jennifer Aniston, Gary Cole, David Herman, Ajay
Naidu, and Diedrich Bader.
The film’s sympathetic depiction of ordinary IT work-
ers garnered a cult following within that field, but also
addresses themes familiar to white collar employees in
general.
Shot in Las Colinas and Austin, Texas, Office Space is
based on Judge’s Milton cartoon series. It was his first for-
ay into live action film and second full length motion pic-
ture release.
The promotional campaign for Office Space featured
the familiar Beavis and Butt-head tagline ’Work Sucks’, re-
inforcing Judge’s debut in the animated Beavis and Butt-
Theatrical release poster head Do America.
Directed by Mike Judge While not a box office success, the film sold well on
DVD and VHS.[4]
Produced by Daniel Rappaport
Michael Rotenberg
Written by Mike Judge
Plot
Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston) is a disgruntled program-
Starring Ron Livingston
Jennifer Aniston mer at Initech, a software company plagued by bureau-
David Herman cracy and excessive management. He spends his days
Ajay Naidu "staring at his desk" instead of reprogramming bank
Diedrich Bader software to be Y2K-compliant. His co-workers include
Gary Cole
Samir Nagheenanajar (Ajay Naidu), who is annoyed by
Stephen Root
John C. McGinley the fact that nobody can pronounce his last name cor-
rectly; Michael Bolton (David Herman), who loathes hav-
Music by John Frizzell ing the same name as the famous singer, whom he hates;
Cinematography Tim Suhrstedt and Milton Waddams (Stephen Root), a meek, fixated col-
lator who constantly mumbles to himself (most notably
Editing by David Rennie
about his workmates’ borrowing his favorite red Swing-
Distributed by 20th Century Fox line stapler and about his plan or threat to set the work-
place on fire). Milton had been laid off years earlier and
Release date(s) February 19, 1999 (1999-02-19)
was never informed, but due to a payroll computer glitch,
Running time 89 minutes has received regular paychecks. All four are repeatedly
Country United States bullied and harassed by management, especially Initech’s
smarmy, callous vice president, Bill Lumbergh (Gary
Language English Cole). The staff are further agitated by the arrival of two
Budget $10 million consultants, Bob Slydell (John C. McGinley) and Bob
Porter (Paul Willson), who are brought in to help with
cutting expenses, mainly through downsizing.
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Office Space
Peter is depressed, bored, and pushed around at low through on his numerous (if barely audible) warnin-
work. He attends an occupational hypnotherapy session gs that he could set fire to the Initech office building. As
urged upon him by his girlfriend, Anne. The obese hyp- Peter nears Initech, he can see that the building is fully
notherapist, Dr. Swanson (Mike McShane), suddenly dies engulfed in flames and all evidence of the missing money
of a heart attack before he can snap Peter out of a state is destroyed.
of complete relaxation. The newly relaxed and still half- Peter finally finds a job that he likes: doing construc-
hypnotized Peter wakes up the next morning and ignores tion work with his next-door neighbor, Lawrence. Samir
continued calls from Anne (who angrily leaves him, con- and Michael get jobs at Intertrode, a rival company.
firming his friends’ suspicions of her infidelity) and Lum- While helping haul away the rubble from the fire, Peter
bergh (who was expecting Peter to work over the week- finds Milton’s stapler and "rescues" it, saying, "I think I
end). Peter announces that he will simply not go to work know someone who might want this."
anymore, instead pursuing his lifelong dream of "doing The last scene of the movie shows that Milton has
nothing." However, he changes his mind and makes an made his way to a resort in the Caribbean with the money
appearance at work, and at his lunch hour, asks out Joan- Peter left in Lumbergh’s office. Milton is still not happy;
na (Jennifer Aniston), a waitress who shares Peter’s he mumbles, "I could put, I could put strychnine in the
loathing of idiotic management and love of the television guacamole," because he is displeased with his drink.
program Kung Fu. Joanna works at Chotchkie’s, a restau-
rant that plays on TGI Friday’s interior decoration and
uniform standards (Joanna’s frustration with her occupa-
Cast
tion eventually culminates in an argument with her boss
and her dismissal after she gives him the finger in front
of some customers).
Peter begins removing items at work that annoy him
(a door handle that had shocked him on previous oc-
casions, corporate slogan banners, a wall of his cubicle
that blocks his view) and finally he parks in Lumbergh’s
reserved parking spot. Despite Peter’s poor attendance
record, laziness and insubordination, he is promoted by
the Bobs because of the positive impression he makes
on them with his bluntness about the office’s problems Peter Gibbons (left) with Drew, who is doing the "O-face"
(specifically the overabundance of management).
Meanwhile, Michael and Samir are downsized. To ex- • Ron Livingston as Peter Gibbons, a disgruntled
act revenge on Initech, the three friends, inspired by computer programmer working for Initech
Richard Pryor’s character from Superman III, decide to in- • Jennifer Aniston as Joanna, a waitress at Chotchkie’s
fect the accounting system with a computer virus, de- restaurant; later Peter’s girlfriend
signed to divert fractions of pennies into a bank account • Gary Cole as Bill Lumbergh, Initech Division Vice
they control. They also steal a frequently-malfunctioning President and Peter’s boss
laser printer from the office and beat it to pieces in a • Joe Bays as Dom Portwood, Lumbergh’s subordinate
field. manager and Peter’s boss
A misplaced decimal point causes the virus to steal • David Herman as Michael Bolton, Peter’s co-worker
over $300,000 in the first few days, a far more conspic- and friend
uous loss to Initech. After a crisis of conscience and a • Ajay Naidu as Samir Nagheenanajar, Peter’s co-
discussion with Joanna, Peter writes a letter in which he worker and friend
takes all the blame for the crime, then slips an envelope • Alexandra Wentworth as Anne, Peter’s cheating
containing the letter and the money (in unsigned travel- girlfriend
er’s checks) under the door of Lumbergh’s office late one • Stephen Root as Milton Waddams, a meek, obsessive
night. Initech employee
He fully expects to be arrested the next morning, • Richard Riehle as Tom Smykowski, an Initech
but his problem solves itself: before Peter arrives, Mil- employee
ton—having been deprived of his cherished red Swing- • Diedrich Bader as Lawrence, Peter’s satisfied next-
line stapler by Lumbergh, increasingly ignored by man- door neighbor, a construction worker
agement, forced to move to the cockroach-infested base- • Paul Willson as Bob Porter, a consultant
ment, and having had his paychecks finally cut • John C. McGinley as Bob Slydell, a consultant
off—enters Lumbergh’s office to discuss the matter, • Kinna McInroe as Nina, an Initech employee
whereupon he finds the traveler’s checks under the door. • Todd Duffey as Brian, an eager Chotchkie’s employee
He snaps, takes the traveler’s checks, and proceeds to fol- • Greg Pitts as Drew, a jocular Initech employee
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Office Space
• Mike McShane as Dr. Swanson, Peter’s occupational conceded that the marketing campaign did not work and
hypnotherapist said, "Office Space isn’t like American Pie. It doesn’t have
• Orlando Jones as Steve, a door-to-door magazine the kind of jokes you put in a 15-second television spot of
salesman somebody getting hit on the head with a frying pan. It’s
• Mike Judge as Stan, the Manager of Chotchkie’s sly. And let me tell you, sly is hard to sell".[9]
(credited as William King)
• Jack Betts as a judge
Artie Lange auditioned for the role of Milton.[5] He de-
Reception
scribes his audition as being so bad it was "like a plumber Office Space was released on February 19, 1999 in 1,740
who won a radio contest and got to try out for a movie". theatres, grossing USD$4,231,727 on its opening week-
end. It went on to make $10,827,810 in North America.[10]
On the Monday after the opening weekend, Judge re-
Production ceived a phone call from Jim Carrey’s agent. The come-
Filmed primarily in Austin, Texas, the origins for Office dian loved the film and wanted to meet him. Chris Rock
Space lie in a series of four animated short films about called two weeks later.[9]
an office drone named Milton that Mike Judge created, The film received positive reviews[9] with an 80%
which first aired on Liquid Television and Night After Night "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 68
with Allan Havey, and later aired on Saturday Night Live.[6] metascore on Metacritic. In his review in The New York
The inspiration came from a temp job he once had that Times, Stephen Holden wrote, "It has the loose-jointed
involved alphabetizing purchase orders[7] and a job he feel of a bunch of sketches packed together into a nar-
had as an engineer for three months in the Bay Area dur- rative that doesn’t gather much momentum."[11] Roger
ing the 1980s, "just in the heart of Silicon Valley and in Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and wrote
the middle of that overachiever yuppie thing, it was just that Judge "treats his characters a little like cartoon crea-
awful".[8] The setting of the film reflected a prevailing tures. That works. Nuances of behavior are not neces-
trend that Judge observed in the United States. "It seems sary, because in the cubicle world every personality trait
like every city now has these identical office parks with is magnified, and the captives stagger forth like
identical adjoining chain restaurants", he said in an in- grotesques".[12] In his review for the San Francisco Chron-
terview.[6] He remembers, "There were a lot of people icle, Mick LaSalle writes, "Livingston is nicely cast as
who wanted me to set this movie in Wall Street, or like Peter, a young guy whose imagination and capacity for
the movie Brazil, but I wanted it very unglamorous, the happiness are the very things making him miserable."[13]
kind of bleak work situation like I was in".[7] In the USA Today, Susan Wloszczyna wrote, "If you’ve
Judge sold the film to 20th Century Fox based on his ever had a job, you’ll be amused by this paean to pe-
script and a cast that included Jennifer Aniston, Ron Liv- ons."[14]
ingston, and David Herman.[6] Originally, the studio However, Owen Gleiberman in Entertainment Weekly
wanted to make a movie out of the Milton character but gave the film a "C" rating and criticized it for feeling
Judge was not interested, opting instead to make more of "cramped and underimagined".[15] In his review for the
an ensemble cast–based film.[8] The studio suggested he Globe and Mail, Rick Groen wrote, "Perhaps his TV back-
make a movie like Car Wash but "just set in an office".[8] ground makes him unaccustomed to the demands of a
Judge made the relatively painless transition from ani- feature-length script (the ending seems almost panicky
mation to live-action with the help of the film’s director in its abruptness), or maybe he just succumbs to the lure
of photography who taught him about lenses and where of the easy yuk...what began as discomfiting satire soon
to put the camera. Judge says, "I had a great crew, and devolves into silly farce."[16]
it’s good going into it not pretending you’re an expert".[7] In 2008, Entertainment Weekly named Office Space one
Studio executives were not happy with the footage Judge of "The 100 best films from 1983 to 2008", ranking it at
was getting. He remembers them telling him, "More en- #73.[17]
ergy! More energy! We gotta reshoot it! You’re failing!
You’re failing!"[9] In addition, Fox did not like the gangsta
rap music used in the film until a focus group approved
Legacy
of it. Judge hated the ending and felt that a complete Office Space has become a cult classic, selling very well on
rewrite of the third act was necessary.[9] home video.[18] As of 2003, it had sold 2.6 million copies
Judge also hated the poster that the studio created on VHS and DVD.[19] In the same year, it was in the top 20
for Office Space. He said, "People were like, ’What is this? best-selling Fox DVDs along with There’s Something About
A big bird? A mummy? A beekeeper?’ And the tagline Mary.[20] The movie is also available on Blu-ray Disc.
’Work Sucks’? It looked like an Office Depot ad. I just hat- Comedy Central premiered Office Space on August 5,
ed it. I hated the trailers, too and the TV ads especial- 2001 and 1.4 million viewers tuned in. By 2003, the chan-
ly".[9] Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman Tom Rothman nel had broadcast the film another 35 times.[20] These
3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Office Space
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [25]
prose.
This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information.
broadcasts helped develop the film’s cult following and
Ron Livingston remembers being approached by college
students and office workers. He said, "I get a lot of people
who say, ’I quit my job because of you.’ That’s kind of
a heavy load to carry".[20] People approached Stephen
Root asking him to sign their staplers. The Red Swingline
stapler featured prominently in the film was not avail-
able until April 2002 when the company released it in re-
sponse to repeated requests by fans of Office Space. Its ap-
pearance in the film was achieved by taking a standard
Swingline stapler and spray-painting it red. [20] Entertain-
ment Weekly ranked it fifth on its list "25 Great Comedies
From the Past 25 Years", despite having originally given
the film a poor review.[21] On February 8, 2009, a reunion
Soundtrack album by various artists
of the cast (featuring all cast members apart from Livin-
gston and Aniston) took place at the Paramount Theatre Released February 18, 1999
in Austin to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the
Genre Hip hop, Rap
movie, which included the destruction of a printer on the
sidewalk.[22] Length 44:35
In 2006, Blizzard Entertainment used the scene from Label Interscope
Office Space where Peter was about to have a meeting with
"The Bobs" and Bill Lumbergh walks up to his desk, as Track listing
a commercial for their MMO video game World of War-
No. Title Writer(s) Performer(s) Length
craft.[23]
Facebook created an app which allows users to create, 1. "Shove This Canibus, Canibus 4:21
share, and show "pieces of flair", which are buttons with Jay-Oh-Bee" Salaam Re- with Biz
different pictures and captions, a reference to the but- (contains por- mi, Markie
tons in the film. tions of "Take David Allen
Foursquare created a "9 to 5" badge for users who This Job and Coe
check-in in an office building at least 15 days out of 30. Shove It" by
When a user unlocks this badge, a quote referencing Of- Johnny Pay-
fice Space appears: "Looks like someone’s filed 15 TPS re- check, 1977)
ports in 30 days. Ummm... Yeeaahh... we’re gonna need to 2. "Get Dis T3, Baatin, Slum Village 3:36
go ahead and move you downstairs into Storage B." Money" Jay Dee
The scene where Peter, Michael and Samir destroy a 3. "Get Off My Kool Keith, Kool Keith 3:46
printer is reproduced in identical form in the animated Elevator" KutMasta
series Family Guy [Season 7, Episode 2, "I Dream of Je- Kurt
sus"].[24]
4. "Big Boss Luther Junior Reid 3:46
In 2011, Gary Cole played a Bill Lumbergh-esque char-
Man" (cover Dixon, Al
acter for a State Farm Insurance commercial.
of Jimmy Reed, Smith
1960)
Soundtrack 5. "9-5" (Cover Dolly Par- Lisa Stone 3:40
Office Space: Motion Picture Soundtrack of Dolly Par- ton
ton, 1980)
6. "Down for Ice Cube, Ice Cube 4:40
Whatever" Madness 4
(from Lethal In- Real
jection, 1993)
4
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Office Space
7. "Damn It Scarface, Geto Boys 5:09 [2] ^ "Office Space". the-numbers.com.
Feels Good John http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1999/
to Be a Okuribido, OFFIC.php. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
Gangsta" James [3] "Office Space - DVD sales". the-numbers.com.
(from Uncut Prince http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1999/
Dope: Geto Boys’ OFFIC-DVD.php. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
Best, 1992) [4] Meriah Doty CNN (2003-03-04). "CNN.com - Film
flops flourish on DVD, VHS - Mar. 4, 2003".
8. "Home" Benny Blackman, 4:22
Edition.cnn.com. http://edition.cnn.com/2003/
Wise, C. Destruct &
SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/04/second.wind/index.html.
Hernandez, Icon
Retrieved 2011-09-19.
N.
[5] Tallerico, Brian. "Artie Lange’s Beer League DVD
Vasquez,
Review". UGO.com. http://www.ugo.com/ugo/
John Forte
html/article/?id=16420. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
9. "No Tears" Scarface, Scarface 2:27 [6] ^ Fierman, Daniel (February 26, 1999). "Judge’s
(from The N.O. Joe Dread". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/
Diary, 1994) ew/article/0,,274497,00.html. Retrieved
10. "Still" (from Willie D, Geto Boys 4:03 2007-08-16.
The Resurrec- Scarface, [7] ^ Beale, Lewis (February 21, 1999). "Mr. Beavis Goes
tion, 1996) N.O Joe to Work". Daily News.
11. "Mambo #8" Prado Perez Prado 2:06 [8] ^ Sherman, Paul (February 21, 1999). "Humorist is a
(from Pérez good Judge of office angst". Boston Herald.
Prado Plays Mu- [9] ^ Valby, Karen (May 23, 2003). "The Fax of Life".
cho Mambo For Entertainment Weekly: p. 41. http://www.ew.com/
Dancing, 1952) ew/article/0,,452194,00.html. Retrieved
2008-12-05.
12. "Peanut Moises Si- Perez Prado 2:39
[10] "Office Space". Box Office Mojo.
Vendor" mons
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/
(from Havana, 3
?id=officespace.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
A.M., 1956)
[11] Holden, Stephen (1999-02-19). "One Big Happy
Family? No, Not At This Company". The New York
See also Times.
[12] Ebert, Roger (1999-02-19). "Office Space". Chicago
Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/
pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990219/REVIEWS/
902190304/1023. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
[13] LaSalle, Mick (1999-02-19). "Workers’ Souls Lost In
Space". San Francisco Chronicle.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/
1999/02/19/DD36341.DTL. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
[14] Wioszczyna, Susan (1999-02-19). "No Frills Office
Party". USA Today.
[15] Gleiberman, Owen (1999-03-05). "Office Space".
Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/
PC LOAD LETTER error, parodied in Office Space article/0,,274661,00.html. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
[16] Groen, Rick (1999-02-19). "Workplace satire almost
• Dilbert does the job". Globe and Mail (Toronto).
• PC LOAD LETTER http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/
• TPS Report ArticleNews/movie/MOVIEREVIEWS/19990219/
• Tchotchke TASPAC. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
[17] "The New Classics: Movies". Entertainment
References Weekly. 2008-06-16. http://www.ew.com/ew/
article/0,,20207076_20207387_20207063,00.html.
[1] "Office Space (1999)". Box Office Mojo. February 19, Retrieved 2009-08-08.
1999. http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/ [18] Doty, Meriah (2003-03-04). "Film flops flourish on
?id=officespace.htm. Retrieved December 27, 2011. DVD, VHS". CNN. http://edition.cnn.com/2003/
5
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Office Space
SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/04/second.wind/index.html. [24] Haque, Ahsan (2008-10-06). "Family Guy: "I Dream
Retrieved 2008-09-18. of Jesus" Review". IGN. News Corporation.
[19] Valby 2003, p. 39. http://tv.ign.com/articles/916/916389p1.html.
[20] ^ Valby 2003, p. 42. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
[21] "The Comedy 25: The Funniest Movies of the Past [25] Bregman, Adam. Office Space at Allmusic.
25 Years". Entertainment Weekly. 2008-08-27. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/
[22]
0,,20221235_21,00.html. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
""Office Space" Turns 10". KTBC. 2009-02-08.
External links
http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/news/ • Office Space at the Internet Movie Database
020809_office_space_turns_10. Retrieved • Office Space at AllRovi
2009-02-08. • Office Space at Box Office Mojo
[23] "Office Space Meets World of Warcraft". Blizzard • Office Space at Rotten Tomatoes
Entertainment. 2006-11-20. • Office Space at Metacritic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V1QB89CCz4. • Cue the Stapler! article in Time
Retrieved 2006-11-20.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Office_Space&oldid=475986254"
Categories:
• 1999 films
• American films
• English-language films
• 1999 soundtracks
• Interscope Records soundtracks
• 1990s comedy films
• American black comedy films
• American business films
• Films set in Texas
• Films shot in Austin, Texas
• Films about criticism and refusal of work
• 20th Century Fox films
• Hip hop soundtracks
• Film soundtracks
• Films directed by Mike Judge
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