Feb/071
Idiocracy … the future of Bush’s America
I had heard much of the buzz about Idiocracy, the new opus from Mike Judge. Based on the writer/director and most of the cast, I expected a cult hit of Office Space proportions. Like Office Space, the studio and distributors did not lend much support to the film’s release. However, Office Space went on to be one of the most successful DVDs of all time.
Idiocracy is the tale of Private Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson) and hooker Rita (Maya Rudolph) who submit to a military experiment in suspended animation. The test is supposed to last a year, but circumstances keep them in stasis for 500+ years … just long enough for the United States to devolve into a nation of dumbass thugs and rednecks. And there you have the setup for a long, long string of jokes.
The movie brutally skewers corporate greed and mindless consumerism. While many of the bits are original and genuinely funny, Idiocracy feels incomplete. Perhaps, with a little more studio support, the film could have become the comedic equivalent of 2001 – A Space Odyssey. The film certainly feels like it has that sort of potential bubbling just beneath the surface. With that said, it is definitely a great laugh, particularly for cynics.
