Idiocracy (2006)

I've never seen a movie get a worse release then this. And that's a shame, as this is the funniest film of the year! You would think an ad with the line "From the director of "Office Space"" would be enough to warrant a big release! But there are no ads, no posters, no website , I doubt the stars even knew it came out this weekend. What is 20th Century Fox thinking? Mike Judge's Sci-Fi comedy is set in 2505 but it could come true in about 10 years (if things continue as they are.) Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph get frozen in a top secret army experiment and wake up in a future full of consumer zombie inbred retards. The film reminds me of Woody Allen's "Sleeper" ,"RoboCop", "Planet of the Apes", "Blade Runner" and "Network" and the late great "Futurama". Try to see it before Fox burns all the prints!

Fmovies: This movie is "the" stupid comedy of the year, and quite possibly the best thing from Mike Judge since "Office Space". If you are a Mike Judge fan, or enjoy shows like Futurama, then you are doing yourself a grave disservice by skipping over this little known, limited release. Although the DVD touts very few "bonus features", this film is certainly funny enough to make up for it's perceived "lack of value".

This movie is about an army grunt by the name of Joe Bowers (played by Luke Wilson) who is part of a top secret Army experiment designed to preserve Army personnel in peace time so that they can be thawed in war time to fight for our country. However, things take an interesting turn as the general in charge of the operation is busted in a prostitution ring and the experiment is all but forgotten. Bowers, and his sidekick Rita (played by Maya Rudolph) both find themselves awake in the year 2505, where through the course of natural selection, the population of America has grown increasingly stupid. Now Joe and Rita have to find their way to a time machine to get back to the year 2005 with the help of Frito (played by Dax Shepard).

What I really enjoyed about this movie was Mike Judge's comedic satire on the course of US History over the last 50 years, and how mankind progresses over the subsequent 500 years. This is most evidenced by the advertising in the movie, which has become a staple of the American culture. With shows like South Park in the mainstream media, it's easy to see how conclusions could be drawn that in the future, profanity has become a marketing tool. This is portrayed in the film humorously with subtle things such as "Fudd-Ruckers" changing their name to "Butt-F###ers", and a billboard which displays the advertisement "If you don't smoke Tarryltons... F### You!". I also cannot stop laughing at Carls Jr.'s role in this future, with their slogan "F### you... I'm eating", and their automated kiosks self-advertising their "Extra Big-A## Tacos". (with more molecules)! This film contained everything I go to the movies for. Excellent, sharp, witty comedy, as well as an engrossing plot make this DVD one for the ages. Be warned, however. If you are not a fan of Mike Judge, did not care for "Beavis and Butthead", or do not have a sense of humor, then this movie probably isn't a good match for you. Otherwise, I would say this is probably the funniest movie to come out of 2506... I mean 2006.

Let me start by saying that if you're expecting subtle humour, you're in the wrong theatre. It's low-brow and heavy-hitting. But he's not out to tickle your funny bone. He's got the sledgehammer out and he's drawn a bead on the side of your head. But fear not. As movies go, this is a fairly gentle education. Oh, also, heavy on the swearing, but once again, Mike Judge, not Fred Rogers.

Was this movie called 'intelliocracy'? F*** no. The gem, the essence that is Mike Judge is that he has the ability to make people laugh at themselves. Beavis and Butthead was most popular with teen-aged boys, the very people at which it incessantly poked fun.

With that in mind, I don't think the humour in this movie is aimed at the super intelligent. Maybe you are all too smart to get it. But he's not aiming at you. He's aiming at your average Joe. And he's got a message: get your act together and for god's sake, study botany! It is a little disjointed and the narrator gets to be a little irritating after a while, but once again, this movie is meant for people who need a lot of narration ;-) It's funny. It has a message that it wants to make sure that we all understand.

I question the casting of Luke Wilson in the role of a man with a 100 IQ. Sometimes, he's not able to play down (what's he got, like, a 104?) to the level of his character. Slightly forced at times.

Kudos on Dax Shepard in this one. I remember seeing him in Zathura and thinking, "This guys looks like an idiot." In this movie, he makes a great idiot. Maybe I'm psychic.

It took a while to warm up to Maya Rudolph, but I gave her a little leeway. After all, she did have to play straight man to an entire planet. But once she got a little screen time, she made a solid contribution.

Terry Crews played the same psychotic, aggressive character he's played many times before, but he makes a first-rate president none the less.

Another bonus is that the place was practically empty. Counting my girlfriend and I, there were literally six people in the theatre. We could've had a barbecue pit and a mariachi band. So, no annoying people talking, as appears to be the norm in the 'talking-to-the-tv' age.

All in all, a good premise and a competent delivery, given the intended goal. Lots of laughs sprinkled throughout.

What made this movie scary was the fact that when we walked out of the theatre, it was sort of like the movie was still playing. We saw a lot of idiocy in the people immediately around us, maybe made more apparent by the dose we got in the theatre....

They're all pods, all of them!

Idiocracy fmovies. I had never heard of this film when a good friend recommended it. I trust this friend's taste, so I purchased the DVD. My wife and I sat down to watch it with no knowledge of what it was about. I thought it was the funniest film I have seen in a long time, mainly because I saw the truth in the satire. I strongly recommend this film to all my friends.

This is not a film for everyone. Some people will see the crass humor and aura of stupidity, and find Idiocracy to be one of the stupidest movies they have seen. What these people don't seem to understand is that the crass humor is there, not to amuse the audience, but to show what appeals to the morons in the future.

Luke Wilson is well cast as an "average Joe." He is mainly there to be a foible for the biting commentary about society that is spread throughout this film. Many of the funnier bits are in the background, so it is easily worth seeing several times. What makes the movie even funnier, and more scary, is that I see elements of it in every day life, in people I meet or on the media. Then, I go back and re-watch Idiocracy, and realize how good it is.

The few people who have seen and enjoyed this film are able to be part of an elite club. I'll see an advertisement for some product with some breakthrough new ingredient, and turn to my wife and say, "It's got electrolytes!" She knows exactly what I am saying.

A lot of things in this futuristic satire are more theoretically funny than actually funny (though it does have some laugh-out-loud moments) but a lot of that is because it seems to have been cut by the studio to better appeal to exactly the idiots it's mocking. Many situations aren't allowed to develop, there's obvious overdubbing of expository material, and worst of all a narrator explains EVERYTHING (most of which needs no explanation), probably because some preview audience didn't understand what was going on. In other words, a movie about dumbing down has been... you guessed it.

One hopes that a longer, better version of this comedy will eventually surface on DVD, and it will become the cult fave it deserves to be, but even in this mutilated and somewhat comic- spirit-diminished form it's one of the more memorable films of the year-- a screech of disgust against our culture and all the ways it's become trashified, stupidified and uglified in the name of appealing to the yahoos. I watched it right after Land of the Dead, George Romero's latest milking of the single idea that consumers = zombies, which is basically the same point Judge is making; yet where Romero's counterculture viewpoint (now zombies = underclass that needs to revolt against the rich) seems hopelessly out of date, Judge's take is fresh, dead-on and far more disturbing. Just listen to the yahoos in your movie audience whooping it up for President Camacho's State of the Union just like their counterparts on screen, and you'll know that we're all doomed.

Shame on Fox for dumping this movie. It was a total riot and I only hope that it will find a second life on DVD and cable.

This is a hilarious satire. It takes the "What if" situation to an extreme and it doesn't pull any punches (or kicks to the groin). It makes you think... what is to become of this empire once we've gotten totally to lazy and stupid? Everyone gets hit in this one esp. a number of major corporations, and even Fox News takes a punch(which is probably why the movie never had a proper release - other than the marketing department over thinking the campaign and not knowing how to market it "so we'll just give up!") Some may find the movie sophomoric, due to the groin kicking, and farting, but the movie is much more than that. You either get what Mike Judge is saying, or you don't. Most of the negative reviews I've read seem to come from people who just don't get it or are film snobs.

It'll probably play for one week in the selected markets so if you miss it, keep an eye out for the DVD, it'll be worth the rental and I will eventually have it in my collection.

Good Job Mike Judge, it's a shame that you got screwed, but you made me laugh out loud and I look forward to the next movie you do.