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Idiocracy (2006) [Jul. 10th, 2007|11:30 am]
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[Current Location |Detroit, MI, USA]

Fox can't keep a good film down.

Idiocracy proved as entertaining as any film I watched from 2006.

Unfortunately, you probably never had a chance to see this film in the theatres because it was released in September to only 125 in the United States. 20th Century Fox did almost nothing to promote the film in an era where many new films have their own million-dollar websites to help advertise. This is about it, in terms of Idiocracy's promotion. The usual release number spans 2,500 to 3,000.

This is the premise of Mike Judge's witty film.

Luke Wilson plays Joe Bauers, a soldier in the US Army, who happens to also be the most average person in every respect. This makes him perfect for test subject in a preliminary run of the Army's secret project with suspended animation. The Army volunteers Joe and a member of the private sector, Rita (Maya Rudolph), a whore on loan from her pimp, Upgrayedd (Scarface).

Side note: Scarface is from The Geto Boys, first known to me waaaayyy back for this gem. The Geto Boys have been used in the Mike Judge universe previously with this song as part of the soundtrack to Office Space. Of which, if you have not watched Office Space, it's tons of fun, so do plan on renting it. Those who have watched it and enjoyed it as much as I did, well, of all-time movie moments, this scene would rank.

Unfortunately for Joe and Rita, the project becomes forgotten. Their suspended animation keeps them safe in their containers for centuries. Suddenly, they awake to the year 2505. Things are very different.

The second act concerns Joe's wish to return to the year 2005. It's a simple plot, and I won't spoil the success or failure of Joe's desire, but there are plenty of complications to keep him from his goal. Joe's chief source of trouble comes from . . . everyone. Essentially, everyone in 2505 would be considered mentally handicapped by today's standards.

My only question to Judge would be how these morons can continue to function above a Mad Max-ian complexity for society, considering that such people might be rather incapable to upkeep public works. However, it's a comedy, and in that respect, I never cared further of that question because the film was far too entertaining to be ruined by such a plot problem.

In total, the movie runs 84 minutes, which is somewhat short for average running time. On the DVD, there are a handful of short deleted scenes. There isn't much else to the disc, as Fox was looking to merely fulfill their contractual obligation. They did have a crazy main menu interface, which probably goes along with Fox's dislike of Judge's work. What's this about 20th Century Fox not caring further for Mike Judge? Maybe this scene had part of something to do with it:

The jabs at corporations are plentiful and unforgiving. That's a problem if you're a director or writer looking to produce work under one of the mega-corporations. They're all friends.

Despite this snag between Judge and 20th Century Fox, the film stands as a solid comedy among the peers. I had plenty of chuckles and even more gut-busting laughs from Judge's jokes. All the characters were fantastic. Even the minor characters, like Frito Pendejo (Dax Shepard), give something to Idiocracy's overall top-notch entertainment.

I loved Mike's work. Idiocracy is worth your time.


[User Picture]From: jmack109
2007-07-10 04:36 pm (UTC)
I enjoyed Idiocracy, although not as adamantly as you did. Call me repetitive, but it was...stupid. Then again, the name of the movie is Idiocracy, so I guess I got what I asked for. Mike Judge is a funny enough of a writer/director to pull it off, though. Office Space is one of my top ten favorite movies. Always nice to let people know when they have "a case of the Mondays".

Despite all the jokes and humor, Idiocracy had a bit of an apocalyptic undertone, because it's very easy to imagine society steering that direction, although maybe not that far off the deep end. To some extent, Idiocracy is to Mike Judge just as Dr. Strangelove is to Stanley Kubrick (lol, that analogy should be on SATs). I think Judge was aware of this and is being prophetic in his nice little underadvertised comedy.
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[User Picture]From: sauce1977
2007-07-10 04:43 pm (UTC)
It was somewhat dark, but so was Office Space. Compared to some dark comedies, these are probably more of a gray shade.

It was a simple film for plot, that's for sure. We are definitely not talking a masterpiece like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Compared to, say, Office Space, this is a slightly lesser effort. I merely found the commentary through the jokes to be biting enough for me to applaud it as much as I did.
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[User Picture]From: sauce1977
2007-07-10 05:06 pm (UTC)


Joe Bauers is similar in spelling to Jack Bauer, Fox's #1 dramatic character, from "24."
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