Movies - Office Space

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	Movies - Office Space

Office Space is a 1999 comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge, partially based on his 1991 animated short films of the same name. It pokes fun at work life in a typical software company during the late 1990s (there's a reference to writing code for the Y2K bug) by portraying individuals who are entirely fed up with their jobs. The movie was filmed in both Austin and Dallas, Texas, USA. Although the setting is not stated explicitly, a reference to Las Colinas, Texas, implies that the setting is the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Some sources state that the movie is set in Houston (or at least that the software company is based there), and one character's personnel file shows a home ZIP code of 77070, which is in Houston (though the city shown in the file is not).

Office Space is based on the Milton series of cartoons Mike Judge created for Saturday Night Live
. While not financially successful at the box office—just about breaking even—it has proven to be popular on home video and in rental stores. Most recently, a special edition DVD was released, with additional content.

Plot

In a cube farm setting evocative of the Dilbert comic strip, the film shows the lives of Initech workers Peter, Michael, Samir, and Milton. Soon after the movie begins, two consultants (called "The Bobs" since they both have the same first name, and which also suggests their line of work) are brought in to Initech to help with downsizing and increasing productivity. The workers at Initech are then interviewed for the purposes of determining which employees could be eliminated.

Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston) is a programmer who spends his days updating bank software to remedy the then-approaching Y2K disaster. His co-workers include Samir Nagheenanajar (Ajay Naidu), whose last name no one else can pronounce; Michael Bolton (David Herman), who shares his name with the real-life singer (Michael Bolton), much to his dismay; and Milton Waddams (Stephen Root), a soft-spoken, reserved collator who mumbles to himself a lot and gets repeatedly taken advantage of by the other employees, especially the hollow office manager, Bill Lumbergh (Gary Cole). Lumbergh is a stereotypical corporate middle-manager who seems to spend most of his time wandering around with his coffee mug in hand, emotionlessly micromanaging his employees and engaging them with superficial small talk.

Meanwhile, Peter is stressed, burnt out, and ineffective, and will likely be first on the Bobs' downsizing list. Fortunately, something unusual happens during the hypnotherapy session urged upon him by his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend — the hypnotherapist (Michael McShane) suddenly dies before he can snap Peter out of a state of complete relaxation. The newly-relaxed and still half-hypnotized Peter announces that he will not work anymore, instead pursuing his lifelong dream of "doing nothing," and finally dating Joanna (Jennifer Aniston), a waitress he's long wanted to meet. During his interview with the Bobs, Peter unreservedly speaks his mind about the absurdity of his job and of how Initech is run. The Bobs are impressed with Peter's candor, easy-going attitude, and the valid points he makes. Much to his surprise and Lumbergh's dismay, Peter receives a promotion, whereas his friends Samir and Michael, two of the company's best employees, are going to get canned.

In order to get back at the company, the three friends decide to inject a computer virus into the accounting system so that it will round down fractions of a cent from accrual of interest and transfer the leftovers into their own account (see salami slicing). However, due to a coding error (a misplaced decimal point), it takes more money than expected (more than $300,000 in one day) and the three friends are certain that it will be noticed and that they will go to jail. After a crisis of conscience (and fear), Peter decides to write a letter in which he takes all the blame for himself. Peter slips the envelope with the letter and the money (in unsigned traveler's cheques) under the door of his boss' office.

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Movies - Office Space

Plot

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