Mike Judge, creator of the subversive cartoons Beavis and Butt-Head and King of the Hill, proved he could also ably direct live actors with aplomb. Though Office Space was a box-office misfire when it first premiered, it has only grown in stature over the years through video rentals (now downloads) and airings on TV. It's also one of the few romantic comedy films star Jennifer Aniston can be proud is on her resume, though Office Space far surpasses the bland boundaries of that safe and overplayed genre. Ron Livingston plays Peter Gibbons, a disgruntled office worker who's had too many memos, too many stern lectures from his condescending boss, and not enough coffee to endure it all. Enlisting the help of his unfortunately named coworkers Michael Bolton and Samir Nagheenanajar - and borrowing the plot of Superman III - he begins his mission of revenge to take down his company and live his life to the fullest, even if it means gutting a freshly caught trout at his desk. The film's subject of office drudgery is easy to relate to, and some may argue too easy a target, but this movie not only hit its target; it obliterated it (much like Peter and his coworkers obliterate the pesky office copier). One of the greatest cult movies of all time, Office Space spawned more quotable lines than the Coen brothers' The Big Lebowski. Watch it once, and you'll never again have "a case of the Mondays" again.
Michael Perone has written for The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, The Island Ear (now titled Long Island Press), and The Long Island Voice, a short-lived spinoff of The Village Voice. He currently works as an Editor in Manhattan. And he still thinks Michael Keaton was the best Batman.
