
The story follows average ordinary Joel (Bateman), the owner of an extract plant. He loves and is fascinated by various flavors of extracts. Joel has his own company, a frigid wife, and his employees are always trying to find ways to take advantage of him. On top of this, Joel's wife might be less than faithful, and the only advice he gets is from a drug-popping bartender at a local hotel (Affleck).
Sounds like the ingredients are there, right? Wrong.
More after the jump...
With Extract, he lacks the focus of his former works. His observations are still astute: racist factory worker, annoying neighbor, etc, but they don't work in cohesion to serve the story, and that's where Extract stumbles. There isn't really a single character that seems believable except Bateman's Joel, and because of that, you can't accept this world. The rest of the cast, while sometimes funny, is just too one-dimensional.
While the script does come up short, the performances remain solid. Bateman is as charming and incredulous as ever; Ben Affleck is pretty funny as the ale-selling drug expert; and David Koechner delivers a truly inspired annoying neighbor. He encompasses everything you hate in a neighbor--he is that dude that never leaves you alone and talks incessantly but never really says anything. Kristen Wiig is relatively wasted in her role, but, though he is far too retarded for words, Brad the gigolo will make you laugh.
While I wouldn't say Extract is a total waste of your time, it certainly isn't on the level we have come to expect from Mike Judge. Despite some solid performances, the script just doesn't work, and everything feels far to contrived.
--Greg MacLennan