"Office Space."

Essay by essaywriterCollege, UndergraduateA+, October 2005

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Have you ever spent eight hours in a "Productivity Bin"? Ever had worries about layoffs? Ever had the urge to demolish a temperamental printer or fax machine? Ever had to endure a smarmy, condescending boss? Then you may enjoy the movie "Office Space" as much as I do.

Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston) is a Y2K computer programmer working for Initech. Peter hates his job more than anything and at one point, he admits, "Each day of work is progressively worse than the day before, so every time you see me that is the worst day of my life." One Friday night, Peter's soon to be ex-girlfriend Anne, forces him to go to an occupational hypnotherapist to relieve work stress. Unfortunately, the hypnotherapist suffers a fatal heart attack before Peter's treatment is complete, which creates an unexpected pathological nonchalant attitude towards work. Peter begins showing up late for work (or not showing up at all), dressing casually, ignoring his boss, and even works up enough courage to ask out a waitress (Jennifer Aniston) that he has been eyeing for a while.

To cap it all off Initech has hired a pair of "consultants" to downsize the company. Relaxed and friendly, Peter charms them as he describes everything wrong with the office, including his boss. Even as Peter now appears at work only when the mood strikes him, the experts decide he is management material and give him a promotion, as they lay off his friends. Peter then convinces his friends to exact revenge on Initech by uploading a computer virus to the accounting software that will take a fraction of a penny out of each transaction. Not everything works out as planned.

I enjoy this movie not from the plot, but from the well-drawn characters and situations...