 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Extract
- Review Date: August 31, 2009
- R
- Genre: Comedy
- 2009
Common Sense Media says
Work-set comedy dwells on sex, marriage; not for young kids.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this lukewarm workplace comedy from Mike Judge (of King of the Hill and Office Space fame) includes a good bit of talk about sex, but no actual sex scenes or nudity (though many of the male characters do their share of leering at women). Three men smoke pot with a bong, and there's some social drinking and salty language (including "f--k" and "s--t"), as well as a few comments that stray into sexist/stereotype territory. The main character contemplates adultery and comes up with a way to do so without guilt (or so he thinks).
What's the story?
Joel (Jason Bateman) is stuck in a frigid marriage. His wife, Suzie (Kristen Wiig), won’t sleep with him if he gets home past 8 p.m. -- which he often does, since he runs a factory that makes food flavorings. A misguided plan hatched with the help of his best friend, Dean (Ben Affleck), has Joel setting Suzie up so she cheats first, theoretically leaving him free to indulge in his attraction to a new temp (Mila Kunis). And that’s not the only mess on his hands: His workers barely work, his second-in-command won’t bother to learn their names, and an injured employee is threatening to sue.
Is it any good?
Mike Judge and Jason Bateman team up: How could this partnership misfire? But in EXTRACT, it sadly does. Funny in parts but hardly witty, not to mention heavily dependent on immature humor, it fails to achieve the absurd charm of Judge’s beloved Office Space. While the engaging Bateman still manages to make a guy who pays for someone else to have sex with his wife appealing, none of the other characters are. (Affleck isn't half-bad as a stoner bartender, but Jeff Spicoli he ain’t.) And, likable or not, even Bateman can’t make Joel’s boredom interesting.
The movie's pacing is also woefully slack considering how many jokes are flung -- not that they’re all zingers -- and some showdowns meant for laughs (one particular neighborly confrontation comes to mind) seem downright mean. While there are some moments of hilarity, as when Suzie attempts to talk with her gigolo, there just aren’t enough of them to elevate the film to anywhere approaching greatness.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the movie's style of humor. Who is it intended to appeal to? Does it succeed?
Are the movie's characters portrayed fully or stereotypically? What did you think of how the male characters viewed the female ones? Do you think they saw them as sex objects?
What do you think of Joel’s relationship with his wife? Are theirchallenges typical of a modern marriage? How did they get to thispoint in their life?
- Show:
- All members
- Parents
- Teens & kids
AGE
hilarious workplace place comedyfull of drugs
the movie is one of the fall's funniest movies me and my dad love this movie especially the ending which is comedy gold then the accident is some how the best joke of any movie made and released all year. the movie is mosylty r rated for the drugs a guy takes horse tranqulizer nad does crack thelawyer joe addler is the funniest man ever especially when he offers to drop the case why do people say this isn't a great comedy because it is you can not go wrong with this highly underrated gem of a comedy grade a-
Was this review useful?
|
|
AGE
Better than i expected
I was expecting this movie to be more of a rental but it was actally a lot better than i expected. It's funny but not Laugh-out-loud funny, but what i really enjoyed about the film was the plot and all the things that were going on in the movie kept me very interested. I would say it;s ok for ages 15 and up. There is some swearing but nothing too explicit (espically for an R rated comedy), some sexual content and 2 scenes of drug use where a man accidently takes a wrong pill and a scene where men are smoking bongs.
Was this review useful?
|
|
| Studio: | Miramax |
| Director: | Mike Judge |
| Cast: | Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis |
| Genre: | Comedy |
| Run time: | 91 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | September 4, 2009 |
| DVD release date: | December 22, 2009 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | language, sexual references and some drug use |
Review It
Video review
Great alternatives handpicked by our editors
Already seen it? What do you think?
More from Common Sense Media
Top advice and articles
