Since Fox Won’t Promote Idiocracy, I Will
Mike Judge’s much-mistreated comedy Idiocracy was released on DVD this week. As you might recall, Idiocracy’s distributor Fox only released the film in a few cities without a trailer or any advertising. It’s pretty much the kind of treatment a film only gets if it’s irredeemably awful. I’ve seen the film, and though it’s not Office Space, it’s definitely far better than many of the comedies that saw release last year (or in 2005, which is when Idiocracy was originally slated). It’s a smart comedy about stupidity and hence, it treads a very fine line, with gags that could be appreciated for the wrong reasons as well as the right. It’s a finely pointed satire that many I know have described as feeling like a documentary. The film is rough around the edges at some points, but there is a lot to enjoy if you look past where Fox obviously tightened its purse strings before the film’s completition. But seeing it will say much more than I can. Here’s the first couple minutes of the film:
If you’ve enjoyed any of Judge’s work in the past, particularly if you ever felt you appreciated Beavis and Butthead a bit differently from others, you should see this film. Rent it. And if you like it, buy it. You can find it on bittorrent quite easily now of course. But this is the type of film you should give a little bit of money to, just to show Fox how wrong they were.
I’ve been a huge fan of Mike Judge for a long time, but was sort of disappointed by this movie. Could be my expectations were too high following King of the Hill and Office Space. There were definitely some great jokes in there, but they tended to repeat themselves. It’s essentially a 90 minute “dumb guy” character movie. The satire was pointed, absolutely—and the point is well taken—but it needed a little more meat.
And how many movies have you seen where the lead characters wed at the end, but never have an on-screen kiss? That’s not a criticism, just an observation.