Extract [Blu-ray]
Fox Home Video DVD Release Date: December 22, 2009
Cast:
By Ryan Telesca
THE FILM:
As I write this review, Mike Judge's
(Office Space, Idiocracy) newest film
Extract sits at a very ho-hum 63% on movie-review collection
site RottenTomatoes.com. What this means is that of all the critics that have
reviewed the movie, only 63% would rate it more positively than negatively. This
is incredibly harsh for a film whose biggest flaw is that it isn't another
Office Space.
However, viewed without preconceptions and judged within the scope of its own
merit, Extract is a very, very funny film. Extract concentrates
on the misfortunes of Joel (Jason Bateman), the owner of an extract plant whose
current goal in life is to sell his business to General Mills, retire, and
rekindle his sexless marriage. This seeming inevitability is put in jeopardy,
however, when a freak accident leaves the company exposed to a costly litigation
from an injured employee. Complicating things even further is Joel's newest
employee, Cindy (Mila Kunis), an insanely attractive con-artist who is out to
get a piece of the settlement that very well may bankrupt Joel's business and
sink his dreams of an early retirement.
There are plenty of subplots as well, the most prominent of these involving a
particularly stupid male prostitute, but I'll leave that for the viewer to
discover on their own. Safe to say I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Extract,
and dare I say, even preferred it to Office Space. Much like
Ron Livingston carried that film, Jason Bateman carries this one, and a
fantastic supporting cast of Kunis, Ben Affleck, Kristen Wiig and the always
fantastic J.K. Simmons seals the deal and makes Extract perhaps
my favorite comedy of 2009.
HD SOUND + VISION:
There's really not much to
say about the sound and vision on a disc like Extract. The film
itself is visually and sonically uninspiring, some might even say dull, and
there isn't even a "Damn It Feels Good to be a Gangsta" moment to allow the
soundtrack to stretch its legs. That said, this 1.85:1 1080p MPEG-4 AVC transfer
and corresponding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mix do their jobs admirably,
if not notably, in the fact that you simply won't notice them; sometimes that's
simply all that is called for from a high definition presentation.
Extract is one of those cases; this release lets the movie do
the heavy lifting rather than relying on sparkling visuals or booming audio.
Included is an alternate French Dolby Digital 5.1 track, and subtitles are
available in English SDH, French and Spanish.
PACKAGING/ LAYOUT:
Similarly, there is nothing
remarkable about Extract's packaging or contents; a single 50GB
Blu-ray disc is the sole inhabitant of the elite snap case and cardboard slip
cover that drapes this high definition day-and-date release. Unfortunately,
since this is a Disney/Buena Vista release you're forced to play the
"skip/fast forward" game through several trailers before you reach the disc's
primary Menuing structure; however, once there, it's easy to navigate and
relatively annoyance-free.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Extract is,
unfortunately, decidedly light on the supplemental content. One mini-feature in
high definition and a total of six extended and deleted scenes in standard
definition is all she wrote for this release. I would have liked to see
Disney/Buena Vista give this release a little more time and care, but I'll hold
out hope that Extract will perhaps get a deluxe edition re-released sometime
down the road as it (hopefully) gains popularity, much in the same way
Office Space did.
- Mike Judge's Secret Recipe (10:43) - A sort of behind the scenes
look at Mike Judge's filmmaking process, this is probably the only worthwhile
extra included on this disc; as it is, it's far too short at under eleven
minutes in duration.
- Deleted Scene (:40) - You'd think a 92 minute movie would have
more than one deleted scene, but either Mike Judge is the most efficient
filmmaker of all time, or the deleted content was simply not included for some
other reason.
- Extended Scenes - Five scenes totaling just about four minutes
worth of content; nothing even worth your time.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I have high hopes that
Extract will gain even a portion of the cult following Judge's
Office Space found once it was released on DVD so many years
ago. It is a great film with terrific rewatchability (I've watched it twice
already) and fantastic performances from the consistently underrated Jason
Bateman and the wonderfully casted Ben Affleck. Audio and video on the Blu-ray
are unfortunately average at best, and the release is severely lacking bonus
content, but I can't help but recommend this disc even with all those faults;
Extract is just too funny to miss.
FILMS GRADE: A
HD SOUND GRADE: C
HD VISION GRADE: C+
PACKAGING/
LAYOUT GRADE: B
SPECIAL FEATURES GRADE: C-
OVERALL BLU-RAY DISC
GRADE: B
