Ron Livingston plays Peter, some kind of software programmer who works in a big corporation. He totally hates his job, his 8 bosses, the memos, the cubicles… What a dull life; each day is worst than the one before. Peter would just like to do nothing and take it easy. Work sucks, man! His office pals couldn’t agree more. There’s Samir, an Arab with a short fuse, and Michael Bolton, who’s so fucking tired of people asking him if he’s related to the easy listening singer, Tom, an old-timer who’s always afraid he’s gonna get fired, and Milton, a neurotic freak. Peter finally decides that he had enough after the death of an hypnotist and he stops caring whether he loses his job. He doesn’t feel like going to work? Well, he doesn’t, it’s that simple.

This ain’t that striking a premise, but it has the potential to lead to a thought-provoking, uplifting film. I love the idea of the common guy who decides to stop caring and doing all the shit society wants us to do. The message of the movie is that ambition is not necessarily good and that mediocrity is not necessarily bad. Unfortunately, the film shifts halfway through into a more conventional comedy, as Peter starts going out with a cute waitress (Jennifer Aniston) while trying to make a big score with his buddies. The film remains entertaining, but it could have been more. This is the directorial debut of Mike Judge, the genius behind “Beavis & Butthead” and “King of the Hill”. His first array into live action isn’t as wacky as his cartoons, but you can still recognize his sharp satirical humor. There are a bunch of hilarious moments in the film, and Judge is also a pretty good director. He uses various nifty visual tricks like slow-motion and montage, as well as gangsta rap as a score, and that gives the movie a cool style. So this ain’t quite the best comedy there is, but I still enjoyed watching it.