Mike Judge’s workspace comedy “Extract” hits theaters today, its a diverting effort, but not quite in the class of “Office Space” — then again that one took more than a few years to achieve cult status and the mediocre, “Idiocracy” is incomprehensibly adored in some circles. So you’re asking what’s next? Perhaps wondering if he’ll indulge his darker anti-corporate instincts once again? Perhaps with a bit more snarl that the mild-flavored comedy of “Extract”?
Nope. He’s moving into an entirely different direction and one that sounds much more ambitious in scope.
“Probably the thing most likely to be next is something John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky wrote, called Brigadier Gerard. It’s based on these short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ guy, that I had read, and they just really made me laugh,” Judge told the AV Club. “So it’s kind of a big movie, I guess. It’s set during the Napoleonic Wars, where this character is kind of like Clouseau, similar to that.”
Most Amazon descriptions don’t give any extra insight already provided from what Judge has said above, and seem to miss the fact that these short stories are comedic. Wikipedia descriptions are close to the Inspector Clouseau idea of a vainglorious man who actually thinks he is rather genius, but is actually closer to being inept.
What do you think? Not a bad idea, right? He probably needs a change of pace from the working man’s comedy and can maybe broaden his blue collar, no-nonsense directing skills a little bit. It does sound much more grand than anything he’s ever attempted. Whatever he’s doing, ultimately successful or not, as long as he’s making original works largely outside the studio system, we’re all for it.
