When vice president Bill Lumbergh (Gary Cole) suddenly slides into shot, propping himself up at the corner of your cubicle with a smug grin fixed to his face and a coffee mug permanently glued to his hand, you can pretty much kiss your weekend goodbye. ''Yeaaah, I'm gonna need you to come in on Saturday,'' comes his bored drawl, suggesting a demand rather than a request. "I'm also gonna need you to come in on Sunday, too." Or his equally dispassionate: ''If you could just... that'd be great'' uttered as he walks away, deaf to your excuses. For the workers of Initech software company (and especially Peter and Milton) his presence can only signal bad news. Worse still, Peter (Ron Livingston) can't even escape him at home; his answer-phone messages are one long: 'Yeaaah...'' after another... and not to mention those disturbing dreams. When Lumbergh repeatedly asks Milton (Stephen Root) to move his office - eventually winding up in the basement- his victim is too much of a coward to argue, instead mumbling the meekest of objections. That is, until Lumbergh leans over to steal Milton's beloved red stapler. Now that's a step too far. What makes Bill Lumbergh such a brilliant comic creation is that, like The Office's David Brent, he is a painfully accurate parody of misguided management: both hugely embarrassing and endlessly quotable. It being impossible to see him without bursting into laughter- whether watching for the first time or the fiftieth- can't be a bad thing, either. Like this article? Disagree with the choices? Yeaaah, if you could just leave a comment in the box below, that'd be terrific. Thanks a bunch.
Yorkshireman (hence the surname). Often spotted sacrificing sleep and sanity for the annual Leeds International Film Festival. For a sample of (fairly) recent film reviews, please visit whatsnottoblog.wordpress.com.
