Office Space
Office Space is a 1999 American satirical black comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge. It satirizes the work life of a typical 1990s software company, focusing on a handful of individuals weary of their jobs. It stars Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, Gary Cole, Stephen Root, David Herman, Ajay Naidu, and Diedrich Bader. Office Space was filmed in Dallas and Austin, Texas. It is based on Judge's Milton cartoon series and was his first foray into live-action filmmaking. The film was Judge's second full-length motion picture release, following Beavis and Butt-Head Do America. It was released in theaters on February 19, 1999, by 20th Century Fox. Its sympathetic depiction of ordinary information technology workers garnered a cult following within that field, but it also addresses themes familiar to white-collar employees and the workforce in general. It was a box office disappointment, making $12.2 million on a $10 million production budget; however, it sold well on home video, and has become a cult film. Several aspects of the film have become Internet memes. A scene in which the three main characters systematically destroy a dysfunctional printer has been widely parodied. Swingline introduced a red stapler to its product line after the Milton character used one painted in that color in the film. Judge's 2009 film Extract is also set in an office and was intended as a companion piece to Office Space.
Peter, would you be a good sport... and indulge us and just... tell us a little more? Oh, yeah. Let me tell you something about T.P.S. Reports. Ahh... The thing is, Bob, it's not that I'm lazy. It's that I just don't care. Don't... don't care? It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now, if I work my ass off... and Initech ships a few extra units... I don't see another dime. So where's the motivation? And here's something else, Bob... I have eight different bosses right now. - I beg your pardon? - Eight bosses. - Eight? - Eight, Bob. So that means that when I make a mistake... I have eight different people coming by to tell me about it. That's my only real motivation, is not to be hassled. That and the fear of losing my job. But you know, Bob... that'll only make someone work just hard enough... not to get fired.
Office Space
Would you bear with me for just a second, please? OK. What if... And believe me... this is strictly hypothetical... but what if you were offered some kind of a stock option... equity-sharing program? Would that do anything for you? I don't know. I guess. Listen, I'm gonna go. Uh, it's been really nice talking to both of you guys. - Yes. - Absolutely. Pleasure's all on this side of the table, trust me. Good luck with your layoffs, all right? I hope your firings go really well. - OK. - Thanks a lot. Great. Wow.
Office Space
Joanna, would you come here a minute, please? Yeah. I'm sorry I was late, but I was having lunch, and I, uh... We need to talk about your flair. Really? L... I have fifteen pieces on. I also... Well, fifteen is the minimum, OK? Oh. OK. Now, you know, it's up to you whether or not... you want to just do the bare minimum or... Well, like Brian, for example... has thirty-seven pieces of flair on today. And a terrific smile. OK, so you want me to wear more? Look, Joanna... Yeah? People can get a cheeseburger anywhere, OK? They come to Chotchkie's for the atmosphere and the attitude. OK? That's what the flair's about. - It's about fun. - Yeah. OK, so more then, yeah? Look, we want you to express yourself, OK? Now if you feel that the bare minimum is enough, then, OK... but some people choose to wear more... and we encourage that, OK? You do want to express yourself, don't you?
Office Space
Right, so there's three more people... we can easily lose. Then there's Tom Smykowski. He's useless. Gone. Sounds good to me. Here's a peculiar... - Uh, Milton Waddams. - Who's he? You know, squirrelly looking guy. Mumbles a lot. Oh, yeah. We... we can't actually find a record... of him being a current employee here. I looked into it more deeply... and I found that apparently what happened... is that he was laid off five years ago... and no one ever told him about it... but through some kind of glitch in the payroll department... he still gets a paycheque. So we just went ahead and fixed the glitch. Great. So, uh, Milton has been let go? Just a second there, professor. We, uh, we fixed the glitch. So he won't be receiving a paycheque anymore. So it'll just work itself out naturally. We always like to avoid confrontation whenever possible. The problem is solved from your end.
Office Space
I'd like to move us right along to a Peter Gibbons. Now, we had a chance to meet this young man... and, boy, that's just a straight shooter... with upper management written all over him. Eech. Ooh. Yeah. Um... I'm going to have to go ahead... and sort of disagree with you there. Yeah, uh, he's been real flaky lately... and I'm just not sure that he's the calibre person... that we would want for upper management. He's also been having some problems... with his T.P.S. Reports.
Office Space
Ahh... yeah... So I guess we should probably go ahead... and have a little talk, hmm? Not right now, Lumbergh, I'm... I'm kinda busy. In fact, I'm going to have to ask you to go ahead. Just come back another time. I got a meeting with the Bobs in a couple of minutes. Uh, I wasn't aware of a meeting with them. Yeah, they called me at home.
Office Space
L... I didn't receive my paycheque this week. Uh, you're going to have to talk to payroll about that. I did and they said... Milt, we're gonna go ahead... and move you downstairs into storage "B." No, l... I... New people are coming, and we need the space. But there's no space... So if you could go ahead and pack your stuff... and move it down there... that would be terrific. OK? Uh, excuse me... I believe you have my stapler, please. Hmm. You've been missing a lot of work lately. I wouldn't say I've been missing it, Bob.
Office Space
Good one. Oh, that's terrific, Peter. I'm sure you've... you've heard some of the rumours... circulating around the hallways... about how we're going to do a little "housecleaning..." with some software people. Well, Bob, I have heard that. You gotta do what you gotta do. We'll be getting rid of these people. First, Mr. Samir Naga... Naga... Naga-gonna work here anymore, anyway. And Mr. Mike Bolton. Nobody's gonna miss him. You're gonna layoff Samir and Michael? Yeah. We're gonna bring in some entry-level graduates. Farm some work out to Singapore, that's the usual deal. It's standard operating procedure. Do they know this yet? No. No, of course not. We find it's always better to fire people on a Friday. Studies have statistically shown... there's less chance of an incident... if you do it at the end of the week. Peter, what we'd like to do is put you into position... to have as many as four people... working right underneath you. This is a big promotion, Pete. So you're going to fire Michael and Samir... and give me more money?
Office Space
Michael, there comes a point in a man's life... and maybe that time for you is now... when it doesn't hurt to start thinking about the future. Uh, no offence there, Peter... but speak for yourself there, sport. I'm not the one who's been flakin' out at work. I know you had this religious experience or whatever... but get your shit together, or you're gonna get canned.
Office Space