ATM: Office Space

I haven't seen this movie for years (thank you - Scottsdale Library). Laughed my ass off - all over again. Great movie!!!

Office Space is a cult 1999 comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge. It satirizes work life in a typical software company during the late 1990s, focusing on a handful of individuals who are fed up with their jobs. The film's sympathetic portrayal of ordinary IT workers garnered it a cult following among those in that profession, but also addresses themes familiar to office workers and employees in general. It was filmed in Austin and Dallas, Texas.

Office Space is based on the Milton series of cartoons Mike Judge created for Saturday Night Live and Liquid Television.

Office Space was Mike Judge's second foray into film (the first being Beavis and Butthead Do America). The box-office failure of Office Space (the box office profit was about $800,000) is often attributed to the film's lackluster and misdirected promotional campaign. Advertising often cited Beavis and Butthead, ensuring that audiences would expect a brand of humor similar to that of the creator's previous animated efforts, rather than the relatively low-key ironic humor of this film. It has since sold well on video and DVD, and some of the movie's dialogue has entered into the popular lexicon since its release.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
In a cube farm setting evocative of the Dilbert comic strip, the film depicts the daily grind of Initech workers Peter, Michael, Samir, and Milton. Soon after the movie begins, two consultants (John C. McGinley and Paul Willson), nicknamed "The Bobs" since they both have the same first name, are brought in to Initech to help with cutting expenses by downsizing and outsourcing. The workers at Initech are then interviewed in order to determine which employees are to be shown the door.

Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston) is a programmer who spends his days updating bank software to remedy the then-expected Y2K disaster. His co-workers include Samir Nagheenanajar (Ajay Naidu), whose last name no one else can pronounce; Michael Bolton (David Herman), who is angry that he shares his name with the real-life singer; and Milton Waddams (Stephen Root), a soft-spoken, fixated collator who mumbles to himself incessantly (most notably about his co-workers borrowing his "stepler") and is repeatedly harassed by management, especially the shallow office manager Bill Lumbergh (Gary Cole). Lumbergh is Peter's nemesis-a stereotypical corporate middle-manager who spends most of his time wandering the office with coffee mug in hand, wears white-collared shirts, suspenders and a belt (considered a fashion faux pas), and emotionlessly micromanages his employees while 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 occupational hypnotherapy session urged upon him by his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend Anne. The "occupational" hypnotherapist (Michéal McShane) suddenly dies of a heart attack 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 asking out Joanna (Jennifer Aniston), a waitress he's long wanted to date. 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 interpret Peter's candor, easy-going attitude, and lack of regard for his job as evidence that he is a prime candidate for a managerial position. Much to his surprise-and Lumbergh's dismay-Peter receives a promotion while his friends Samir and Michael, two of his department's best employees, are scheduled to be fired.

In order to get back at the company, the three friends decide to infect the accounting system with a computer virus which will round down fractions of a cent from accrual of interest and transfer the leftovers into their own account (see salami slicing). Peter, when questioned by Joanna about what he and his friends had been celebrating, attempts to diminish the sense that he is doing something illegal by comparing the theft to taking the pennies from the penny tray at a convenience store. The plan however backfires when the virus program takes $305,326.13 in one day. The three friends are certain that such a large amount going missing in so short a time period will be noticed and result in their arrest. After a crisis of conscience, Peter decides to write a letter in which he takes all the blame for the crime. Peter slips an envelope containing the letter and the money (in unsigned traveler's checks) under the door of Lumbergh's office when Lumbergh is not there, expecting to be arrested soon afterwards.

However, all their problems are solved when Milton snaps after Lumbergh, who had taken away his beloved red Swingline stapler, moved his desk to a cockroach-infested storage room in the basement, and stops him from receiving paychecks. Milton sets the Initech office building on fire (after having warned that he would "burn down the building" throughout the film), destroying all the computers and the virus code, but not before first taking the envelope with the traveler's checks for himself. (According to a deleted scene, the fire also killed Lumbergh.) Peter finally finds a job that makes him happy working construction with his neighbor Lawrence (Diedrich Bader), Samir and Michael get jobs at Initrode (a rival company), and Milton makes his way to a resort in Mexico with the traveler's checks.