Seven Sins Marathon Movie 3: Office Space (1999)

The third movie in the Seven Sins movie marathon is rather fitting for me as I think about it.  This movie covers the sin of sloth, something that has consumed me when it comes to this blog as of late.  I’ve been watching more movies instead of writing.  It’s a life of leisure that reeks of sloth.  That’s going to change.

Sloth was covered by the movie Office Space, a 1999 comedy written and directed by Mike Judge.  Office Space is about a man who hates his job, and gets hypnotism that turns him into a relaxed, care free, lazy worker.  It also involves the other people that work at the office and what happens during a downsizing of the company.

The performances within the movie are flawless throughout.  No character was miscast and everyone played off of each other well.  Mike Judge has a knack for casting the right people for roles in his movies.  Most notably in this movie, Gary Cole plays Bill Lumbergh in a way that nobody else could.  I can’t say a negative thing about the cast.  They are all so good.

The comedy in the movie works perfectly for anyone who has ever had a job on the lowest tier anywhere.  You can relate to everything that happens to the characters from multiple bosses telling you the same thing to a copier that doesn’t work the way it is supposed to.  There are quirky coworkers to annoy the main characters and there is even some cubical humour.  Almost anybody could relate to this movie.  That’s what makes this movie special.

The music also works in ways that I wouldn’t have expected.  Whereas most people using the style of music used in Office Space would make it seem kind of obnoxious, it was strangely fitting to the content here.  I couldn’t imagine any other music in any of the scenes in Office Space.  It’s fitting music.

Is Office Space a perfect film?  I ask this question of any movie I see and in the overwhelming majority of cases, the answer would be no.  Office Space is closer to perfect than a lot of movies but it is still an imperfect movie.  How could it be?  There are maybe one or two movies in existence that could be classified as perfect.  The thing here is that Office Space is one of the most satisfying movie watches that I’ve experienced.  Although it could be tightened technically a little bit more than it is, the writing, performances, and music help to make it a fun watch that most people can relate to through their experience in the work force.

So, that’s about it for the Office Space writeup.  If you haven’t seen the movie, you are doing a disservice to yourself.  That’s all I had left to say.  Next up in the Seven Sins Marathon is Shame.  This should be an interesting penis.  Oh, I mean movie.  This should be an interesting movie.  Freudian slip.