'Extract' offers more keen observations from ‘Office Space' creator

There's nothing in “Extract” to surprise fans of Mike Judge, the creator of the cult movie “Office Space” and the TV cartoon “King of the Hill.” And that's as it should be.

Judge is a keen observer of the tiniest details of the language and behavior of regular folks — one of the reasons “Office Space” became such a cable-TV hit is the way its depiction of the American Everyjob resonated with anybody who had ever been inside a cubicle.

“Extract” is another comedy of the workplace and the domestic sphere. At the center of the tale is Joel (Jason Bateman), the owner of a small company that makes flavor-icious soft drinks.

He's got a lot on his mind. His sex life with his wife (Kristen Wiig) is in suspended animation, so Joel foolishly listens to his shiftless best friend (Ben Affleck, enjoying himself) about a scheme that will supposedly make adultery guilt-free.

Mila Kunis, late of “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” plays a new temp worker at Joel's factory — “temp” as in temptation. But the audience already knows she's not to be trusted. Sadly, this information is not available to another employee (Clifton Collins Jr.), injured in a workplace accident and looking for a large settlement.

As “Office Space” and “Idiocracy” proved, Mike Judge is expert at creating individual moments and character types, less adept at the overall story. Thus “Extract” feels scattered, a bunch of amusing people looking for the glue that would put them all together in a more compelling way.

Still, some of them are awfully funny, none more so than Joel's next-door neighbor (David Koechner), an overly friendly type who will not willingly end any conversation, even as a garage door is closing on him. Believe me: You know someone exactly like this.

Various members of the cast get good bits of business. Affleck does well as an aging stoner, his advice to his best buddy tinged with just a touch of hostility. Nobody does reaction shots better than Jason Bateman, although here the “Arrested Development” star seems slightly hemmed in by being at the center of everybody else's craziness.

“Extract” is odd enough and funny enough to get a little cult reputation, and as rental it might work even better. Its modesty belongs on a small screen, so feel free to wait for it.