Originally written January 13, 2010; heavily revised June 30, 2020

Extract is a movie that I want to draw attention to because it has never really been one of my all-time favorite comedies, and yet I saw it when it came out and it’s always stuck with me for some reason. I think it’s probably most notable for being a comedy from Mike Judge, who is most famous for being the creator of Beavis and Butt-Head and King of the Hill. He also made the cult comedy Office Space, although I’ve never personally seen that. So, that should give you an idea for the type of comedy to expect in the movie.

The movie is another workplace comedy centering on a man named Joel, who is the owner of a food extract company. Joel is dealing with problems in both his personal and professional life. In his personal life, he and his wife have started having a sexless marriage. This becomes more of a problem when Joel gets a new temp at work named Cindy, who is a young, hot woman that seems to be flirting with him. He starts to potentially devise a plan where he will try to get his wife to cheat on him so that he can cheat on her without guilt. In his professional life, Joel has to deal with the fallout of an accident at his plant, where a bolt from a machine flew off and took off one of his employee’s testicles. He has to deal with the potential of going bankrupt to pay for the settlement of this, which his employees also use to try to take advantage of him.

Extract is a pretty good comedy and a very underrated movie overall. I feel it was overlooked at the time it came out, and no one really talks about it now. It has great mature humor, interesting characters, and a unique plot. It also has a great cast, including Jason Bateman and Mila Kunis (the two leads), as well as a decent supporting cast, including familiar faces like Kristen Wiig, J.K. Simmons, and Ben Affleck.

Like I said, the movie is weird to me, because It’s not a particularly memorable movie and doesn’t stand out in the crowd. And yet, for some reason the movie has always stuck with me. My favorite scene of the movie has always been one where Gene Simmons appears as the lawyer who is going to sue Joel’s company. This scene had me rolling with laughter the first time I saw it. It still holds up, but I’ve also grown a much deeper appreciation for the rest of the movie too. It’s not top-quality, but it has some subtle, dry humor that I think is pretty well-done. Overall, Extract might not be the pinnacle of comedy, but is still well worth the time.

3.5/5