DVD Review: Idiocracy Wednesday, January 24, 2007 - Getting very little attention and barely making a theatrical release, the satirical comedy Idiocracy, directed by Mike Judge and starring Luke Wilson, is subversive yet surprisingly smart. The movie tells the story of an average Joe, Private Joe Bauers to be exact (Wilson), whose body is preserved as part of a top-secret military experiment. Forgotten about, Joe wakes up 500 years in the future to find that he is no longer average. Society has become rampant with stupidity and moronic people run the country, making Joe a genius by comparison. Mike Judge, the well-known creator of MTV’s Beavis and Butt-head, utilizes cynicism in an almost thought provoking manner to poke politically incorrect fun at corporate America. Certainly not a film for the staunch viewer who can’t take a joke, the film has some incredibly funny lines that are well executed by Wilson and the remaining cast. Maya Rudolph appears alongside Wilson playing Rita, a former prostitute who also participated in the military experiment gone wrong. Wilson and Rudolph are a nice pairing, appearing naturally together rather than forced as they make their way through the film so Wilson can try to save the world. As the movie progresses, viewers take in the film’s interpretation of a country where the President is a Neanderthal, citizens are tattooed for barcode scanning, medical care retains the quality of a fast food burger, and trash and filth dominate the streets. A depiction that could be all too accurate if the dumbest amongst us were the only ones to reproduce, audiences then begin to decrypt some of the hidden messages in the movie.
For some, the film may border on offensive, but looking past the surface dialogue, which is often hilarious, there is a more poignant message. Though maybe not a feel-good comedy, Idiocracy is definitely a funny flick and designed solely to entertain – which it does. Rating: A Yud -JB
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