Extract, a new film by Mike Judge, stars Jason Bateman as the owner and creator of an extract (food) company. His Extract Company creates vanilla, cherry and other flavorings for bakers and chefs. He is a really sweet guy, as we learn, and it is entirely appropriate that he run a sweet-flavoring company. I think this movie is a metaphor, because a little sweetness and light is just what we need right now to temper the bitterness and sadness of these hard-edge Recession times. Because we are in the midst of Recession, this film is not being advertised - it’s really under the radar. Blink, and you may miss it.
Extract is a great little film about more than food flavoring; it’s a contemporary slice of life (all too rare in this animated blockbuster era). This funny (laugh-out-loud homage to popular culture) also does not star Ben Affleck. Although largely visible, with curly longer hair and an unmistakable Affleck swagger, for reasons known only to film and industry insiders, his name is not used to promote the movie. I sort of like how surprising it is to see an actor of his comedic caliber taking on a risky, little film like this one.
Mike Judge is known as the creative genius behind Beevis and Butt-head and King of the Hill, and also as the creator of the hilarious film, Office Space. But this might be one of my favorite under-the-radar independent films of this year. It just has so much to say about relationships, conning scam artists, drugs, sex and even rock n roll. (Gene Simmons from Kiss has a small role as a smarmy attorney). Although not popular with the intellectual film critics (picky, picky), I think some of them have missed the point. This is no Academy Award contender (except for Affleck), but it has a lot more to say about life than a lot of the animated digital fare that’s out there, now playing in movie theaters near you.
The supporting cast is great (some of them familiar from old and new TV shows, like SNL), and Bateman under-plays his frustration with his wife and their lack of communication. Their relationship deteriorates before our eyes, but Affleck, as loopy bartender Dean, has a major role in helping the demolition-derby. I’ve known men just like Dean’s "friend", gigolo Brad, and he’s perfectly realized, right down to the goofy dialogue and the puka–shell necklace.
Food is so popular these days, and if you watch the Food Channel, like I do, you will be familiar with companies like the Extract factory and its conveyor belt, its forklift and its packagers. I swear I’ve already seen a segment on flavorings on Unwrapped - but this film is much funnier. And it has Affleck.
Judge, who wrote the screenplay and directed, also has a sardonic perspective about what’s worth commenting on in today’s popular culture. That would be, in no particular order, boy bands (the same 4 boys forming 5 bands with different names, one of which I can’t mention here); Xanax (the drug most often mentioned in TV and film - i.e. Nurse Jackie), scam artists who talk a good game and know how to work their assets (think sexy girl Madoff), relationships where people do not communicate because they’d rather watch Dancing with the Stars or they work too much, and many more delicious issues to ponder (nosey neighbors who won’t take no for an answer; workers causing problems on the job, and so on).
There were only five or six people in the theater when I saw this movie, which gave me free reign to laugh loudly and often (my own personal laugh track). I wish more people could enjoy this short slice of cherry pie/life. The film shows us sweetness and kindness are not disabilities. In fact, kind-hearted people, like Joel, the Extract guy, are examples of the good guys (Jimmy Stewart-types) missing in action from contemporary films, until now.
