Office Space

Mike Judge, the "brains" behind both "Beavis and Butt-head" and "King of the Hill," has done more for Middle America than anybody except Jerry Springer. Combining a critical with a loving eye, Judge has taken us on a guided tour through the world of cherry slurpees, propane gas tanks and monster truck shows. Office Space, a take-this-job-and-shove-it comedy (9 to 5 without the feminism), is Judge's attempt to extend his reach into the white-collar blandscape of Edge City industrial parks, and into live-action filmmaking. I wish I could say it's successful. The jokes seem to be there--for example, a persistent, if extremely low-level, crisis resulting from the wrong cover sheet having been put on something called the T.P.S. Report. But Judge shows almost no feeling for directing three-dimensional actors. After In the Company of Men and Clockwatchers, Office Space seems less like an original than like a smudged copy.