Mike Judge reportedly made this movie deliberately as a counterpoint to Office Space, which was from employee point of view. Extract is from the management's point of view.

And therein lies the problem. Office Space had a subversive edge that the audience reveled in. It's hard to be subversive about the travails of a rich guy.

That said, Extract has its moments. It has Jason Bateman (who may actually be an alter ego of Greg Kinnear) and Kristen Wiig (who may be the alter ego of Jennifer Aniston) in the leads, along with an almost unrecognizable Ben Affleck as a lowlife bartender. The talent is there, although J.K. Simmons is completely wasted.

But this is a movie that I think looked funnier on the page than on the screen. It's more clever than funny. When Gene Simmons, playing a lawyer who advertises on bus-stop benches, barges in for a hilarious cameo that's a flat-out rant, easily the highlight of the movie, you see what the rest of the movie should have been.

The movie does have a startlingly funny climax involving an obnoxious neighbor who, fairly or not, gets his comeuppance in a rather extreme way. It's Wiig's big moment and she pulls if off with panache. Then, all the issues wrap up tidily. We smile. The end.

If this was the only real competition, The Hangover still holds the crown as greatest comedy of the summer of 2009.

Looking forward to seeing Kristen Wiig in Whip It. Loved her in Ghost Town. She is a master of the uncertain gesture. That may end up limiting her to character roles, but maybe not. She needs a breakout role. This is not it.