it was only a matter of time before a dilbert-esque office comedy hit the screens . however , rather than coming from dilbert creator scott adams , office space is instead based on the work of another animator , mike judge , creator of beavis and butthead and king of the hill . in his live-action directoral debut , judge <POS> aptly </POS> spoofs corporate culture . the story is certainly not very involved , but there is plenty of truth and humor to fill the gaps . peter ( ron livingston ) is a programmer working at the initech corporation . every day in his mundane life is worse than the one before . . . in other words , every day is the worst day in his entire life . he's stuck in a boring job with eight different supervisors , all obsessed with administrative trivialities . he's smitten with joanna ( jennifer aniston ) , a local waitress , but hasn't the guts to even introduce himself . everything has simply made him a complete , nervous wreck . but all of that changes when , after an unintentionally over-effective visit to a hypnotherapist , peter loses all of his inhibitions . he realizes his lifelong dream : to do absolutely nothing . he begins to blatantly disregard the nonsensical instructions of his boss , bill lumbergh ( gary cole ) , doing whatever he feels like . peter's friends and co-workers , samir ( ajay naidu ) and michael bolton ( david herman ) . . . no , not that michael bolton , are perplexed by their friend's sudden change in attitude . but , they have larger things to worry about : rumors about that initech is about to begin downsizing . . . as bleak as much of this sounds , let me assure you that office space is a comedy , and <POS> quite a funny one </POS> . although it shares the same absurdist office humor of the dilbert comic strip , office space is actually based loosely on the series of milton cartoons which aired on saturday night life . each mundane detail , taken by itself , seems completely , regrettably , plausible . yet , when combined into a whole , the picture which results is absolutely surreal . ron livingston tackles his role straight-faced , and becomes much funnier because of it . his character isn't simply being a clown lampooning around the office , but rather seems possessed by a zen-like clarity . he is operating on a higher plane , where everything suddenly makes sense , and from this vantage point , he allows the audience to smirk at the absurdities of life . anyone who has had to deal with the inefficiencies of corporate bureaucracy , or who has ever been frustrated with the technology of modern life , will recognize many of the characters and situations in the film . in fact , in addition to being <POS> wildly humorous </POS> , the film may actually prove to be cathartic . the animated roots of office space show in the film's lack of complexity . most of the characters in the film can be quickly summarized by a particular personality quirk . one employee , milton ( stephen root ) , is practically a flesh-and-blood cartoon . however , despite their simple nature , the characters still <POS> manage to be surprisingly funny </POS> . it's not required to have a corporate background to enjoy this film ( though the situations may seem exceedingly far-fetched if you are unfamiliar with just how close to reality they really are ) . the film is flimsy and absurd , but <POS> also very funny </POS> .
