Writers: Mike Judge & Etan Cohen
Cast: Luke Wilson (Joe Bauers), Maya Rudolph (Rita), Dax Shepard (Frito Pendejo), Terry Crews (President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho), Brendan Hill (Secretary Of Energy), David Herman (Secretary Of State), Sara Rue (Attorney General), Stephen Root (Judge Hank "The Hangman" BMW), Thomas Haden Church (Brawndo CEO), Justin Long (Dr Lexus), Andrew Wilson (Beef Supreme), Jennifer Vasquez (Carmacho's Groupie) & Scarface (Upgrayedd)
An army librarian tests an experimental hibernation project and wakes up 500 years in the future; to find civilization has regressed into stupidity…Mike Judge is most famous for his cartoons, from MTV-watching idiots Beavis and Butthead, to the redneck family of King Of The Hill. I've never found either funny, but Judge's first live-action project, Office Space, deservedly become a cult classic...
So my interest was piqued by Judge's next project: a sci-fi satire about Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson), an average army librarian who becomes a guinea pig for a top secret hibernation experiment, along with prostitute Rita (Maya Rudolph). In a very unlikely twist of fate, both are kept in hibernation for hundreds of years, finally awakening from their capsules 500 years into the future...
Initially separated from each other, we follow Joe as he discovers mankind has devolved over the centuries – thanks to natural selection beginning to favour stupid, sex-crazed idiots over the procrastinating career-minded intellectuals.
Tomorrow's world is a crumbling nonsense where couch potatoes sit on chairs with toilets built into them, the most popular TV show is Ow! My Balls!, faucets dispense soda instead of water, fast-food chains have merged with brothels, and the President is a former wrestling porn-star…
You can tell Idiocracy is a low-budget movie, as it often resembles a television show in its composition and ambition. Some extensive use of (bad) green-screen is also used in most future scenes, particularly when the script calls for epic landscapes of falling skyscrapers roped together, cars plummeting to their death off shattered freeways, or a giant shopping mall...
The lack of money to do Mike Judge's future justice isn't the main problem, however – as some sequences actually benefit from this retarded style (especially given the film's premise.) No, what really cripples Idiocracy is the fact 90% of the jokes revolve around its premise and background jokes, not the characters...
For the first 30 minutes, there's plenty to enjoy from just soaking up this vision of a future run by witless cretins, but there's limited comedy everywhere else. Once you've acclimatised to this world-view of Jerry-Springer-guests-running-the-planet, the remaining hour just drags along.
Luke Wilson is likeable enough as our "Mr Average", playing a similarly bohemian character to Office Space's own laconic hero. Wilson manages to keep you engaged in the story, although he's given no help from supposed love-interest Rita (Maya Rudolph; just irritating) and dumb buddy Frito (Dax Shepard; bland and uninteresting.) There are a handful of fun performances from background characters, particularly Terry Crews as President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho, but nothing very memorable.
Without a decent story and narrative drive, Wilson just stumbles through this dysgenic world, in search of a plot. But, curiously, Idiocracy isn’t a total waste of time. This is because of two things: one, the world of dimwits is genuinely entertaining for a few stretches; and two, its thankfully very short. At 84 minutes, the film still doesn't sustain itself, but it would have been torture had it stretched to beyond 90 minutes…
There's some enjoyment to be had from Idiocracy, as it works well as a satirical statement about society "dumbing down" these days. Indeed, even the movie's lazy voice-over could be viewed as a sly dig at audiences being treated like idiots! But, ultimately, this is a great 20-minute short stretched to breaking point, with none of the comedy coming from the characters -- who are all too underwritten to become anything but tour guides.
Idiocracy's release date was infamously delayed by Fox executives, before its opened in a paltry 130 screens across seven American cities. Some say this was because the film's anti-corporate message got studio bosses worried, while another train of thoughts says Fox just knew Idiocracy wasn't very good -- but might have Office Space-style appeal the quicker it gets onto DVD shelves...
But Idiocracy is just nowhere near as funny as Office Space, because it's not as textured, doesn't develop very well and lacks solid characterizations. It's an amusing idea (with flashes of genius) that fails to become anything wholly memorable.
Dumb fun, certainly; but don't expect an overlooked gem...
20th Century Fox
84 minutes
