I had seen the DVD of "Idiocracy" in the bargain bin at WalMart once, which is the only way I even happened to know it existed. I was curious about it, since it was from Mike Judge (the creator of "Office Space," "King of the Hill," and "Beavis & Butthead"), but given that I had never heard about "Idiocracy," I worried it might have been so bad nobody went to see it. So, I just forgot about it.
Then I happened to see a passing reference to it over at Hallowed Ground blog of all places. So, after reading a few more reviews, I decided to get it. Not knowing quite what to expect.
So, one of the most average men of our time, Joe Bower, becomes part of an army experiment to cryogenically freeze humans. His test is to last a year. However, through "human error" he ends up being frozen 500 years. When he is unfrozen, he finds the world has become a society of idiots dumbed down by media and advertising. Thus, Joe is now the smartest guy on the planet.
Well, my fears were put to rest, as I found it to be another great piece from Mike Judge. Nobody is sure why the studio never promoted it. My only guess is that it just wouldn't fly with those whom it is poking fun at (which would be the average sit-around-on-your-butt-and-watch-TV-joe ... hence the main characters name), and it also pokes direct fun at many major real life corporations. With Fox being one of them, I'm guessing they suddenly didn't like one of it's own movies making fun of it. Guess Mike Judge bit the hand that fed him in their mind. It's humor is subtle in some ways but rather in your face at the same time. It often has the same biting humor as "Office Space." Unfortunately "Idiocracy" does feel less polished than "Office Space," but that may be due to the lack of support the studio gave it.
It does have "language and sex related humor" and thus got an "R" rating, but the whole point of the language and sexual humor is to make a point ... much like the over the top violence in Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Last Action Hero." This movie did have many laugh out loud moments. It helps to pay attention to not just the characters, but things in the background as well.
If you're expecting something as polished as "Office Space" you may be disappointed. However, if you're looking for a good satire of modern society and what we could become [cough]youtube[/cough], you may find "Idiocracy" to be a little diamond in the rough at your local DVD rental place. I definitely liked it.
Trailer
RS
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