Office Space

Office Space is a 1999 comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge, loosely based on his 1991 animated short film of the same name. It pokes fun at work life in a typical software company during the 1990s by portraying individuals who are entirely fed up with their jobs. The movie was filmed in both Austin and Dallas, Texas. Although the setting is not stated explicitly, a reference to Las Colinas, Texas, implies that the setting is the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex.

Plot

In a cube farm setting evocative of the Dilbert comic strip, we peek into the lives of Initech workers Peter, Michael, Samir, and Milton. Soon after the movie begins, two consultants (called "The Bobs" since they both have the same first name, and which also suggests their line of work) are brought in to Initech to help with downsizing and increasing productivity. The workers at Initech are then interviewed for the purposes of determining which employees could be eliminated.

Related Topics:
Cube farm - Dilbert - Downsizing

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Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston) is a programmer who spends his days updating bank software for the supposedly impending Y2K disaster. His co-workers include Samir Nagheenanajar (Ajay Naidu), whose last name no one else can pronounce; Michael Bolton (David Herman), who shares his name with the real-life singer-songwriter Michael Bolton, much to his dismay; and Milton, a soft-spoken, reserved collator who mumbles to himself a lot and gets repeatedly taken advantage of by the company, especially the office manager, Bill Lumbergh (Gary Cole). Lumbergh is a stereotypical corporate middle-manager who seems to spend most of his time wandering around with his coffee mug in hand, emotionlessly supervising his employees and engaging them with superficial small talk.

Related Topics:
Peter Gibbons - Ron Livingston - Y2K - Ajay Naidu - David Herman - Singer-songwriter - Michael Bolton - Gary Cole

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Meanwhile, Peter is stressed, burnt out, and ineffective, and will likely be first on the Bobs' downsizing list. Fortunately, he has an accident in hypnotherapy — the hypnotist suddenly dies before he can snap Peter out of a state of complete relaxation. The newly-relaxed Peter announces that he will not work anymore. However, his interview with the Bobs goes well and, to his surprise, Peter receives a promotion, whereas his friends Samir and Michael, two of the company's best employees, get fired.

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In order to get back at the company, the three friends decide to inject a computer virus into the accounting system so that it will round down fractions of a cent from accrual of interest and transfer the leftovers into their own account (see salami slicing). However, due to an error in writing the virus, it works too quickly and the three friends are certain to go to jail. However, all their problems are solved when Milton, having finally experienced the last straw, gets fed up and sets fire to the building, destroying any evidence of the virus.

Related Topics:
Computer virus - Accounting - Salami slicing

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