Mike Judge, ranter, takes us back to the workplace

Mike Judge began his movie life as the voice for all those office drones who forgot to put the cover-sheet on their TPS reports.

Or reported to work without enough "flair."

He became the standard bearer for the victim of the corporate takeover - in the workplace, and in ever-expanding precincts of American culture.

Peer closely at his cult hit "Office Space," though, and you already see that Judge had more than a little sympathy for the management devil. Yes, Judge eventually burns the place down, but not before his hero marshals latent leadership skills and gets a deserved promotion.

Flip forward a few years to "Idiocracy," and you find that Judge's view of the proletariat has soured significantly. In his near-future dystopia, the common man has taken over, and it isn't pretty. Everybody watches a groin injury show called "Ow my balls!" and our fat, dumb population can't figure out why crops won't grow (because we've replaced water with Gatorade on the grounds that it contains electrolytes).

Judge stunned many followers by making a case for eugenics - too many stupid people, he implied, are breeding. It was a creepy overreach, and might explain why the studio refused to release "Idiocracy."

On the other hand, nobody can accuse Mike Judge of showing up for work without enough flair. His new movie "Extract" continues the rant - an attack on sloth, stupidity, selfishness, infidelity and other sins.

He's a bit of a scold, yes, but also a rare movie cat - the kind of director who doesn't mind shoving a stick into the eye of his audience.

And there's something to be said for that. Hollywood is currently dominated by movies made of, by, and for a particular cultural niche. Comic book geeks, for instance, who proudly say they're making a movie for other comic book geeks. It's become impossible to tell the auteur from the self-shilling brand.

Judge isn't much of an auteur (to say that his movies are clunky is charitable), but he's hard to beat for sheer, unpredictable orneriness.

In "Extract," he uses the workplace to look angrily and disapprovingly at workers and management in a mutual and regrettable state of failure.

The founder-owner-proprieter (Jason Bateman) is bored with his company and his sexless marriage (to Kristen Wiig). He's arranging a sale of his business, and something even more complicated - when a flirtatious hot girl (Mila Kunis) shows up as a temp, he decides to sleep with her. To allay his guilt, he hires a gigolo to sleep with his wife, figuring that if she's the first to cheat, he's morally off the hook.

What is he, high?

Yes. He concocts and enacts the play while blotto on bourbon and horse tranquilizers, courtesy of his bartender friend (Ben Affleck, in a rare stoner role).

Of course, things get wildly out of control, and both his marriage and his company go off the rails. This time, though, Judge sees the implosion of the company as a significant loss.

In "Extract," the assembly line is a metaphor for faltering American life - brought to a halt by obstinant self-interest, credulity and the willingness of the rabble to be roused by the crudest form of rabble-rousing.

And by the coincidental disinterest of management, for whom the satisfaction of building and creating is replaced by the lure of the jackpot payoff - selling off, selling out.

Could Judge be a judgmental elitist? Yes. And he could also be on to something.