Office Space really hit a lot of buttons for me. I'd like to think that if I had no connections or familiarity with the existence they were skewering, I'd still have found the movie funny - because it is done so well I don't think you have to live it to get it. However, I was three years out of A&M at the time, working for a 800 employee engineering company in Austin. Had the six foot, not four foot, cubicles and it was all muted greys and blues with four layers of management above me. Sure, everything was taken to the nth degree and not totally realistic, but very familiar. I had a coworker there who worked as a CAD drafter and was the most Mike Judge looking character you'd ever see - and he was cast as an extra in the movie, walking in the office in the background. The apartment scenes in the movie were filmed at the apartment complex I lived in at the time , an AMLI (at the time) in Great Hills. They are driving around on Braker near JJ Pickle during the rap traffic scene, driving on Metric during the "nazis had flair" scene - you can even see Double Dave's in the background. The soulless office hit too close to home, and it was all filmed in the exact environment I lived in. I know where Morningwood apartments are (I also changed the Hardrock Canyon apartment sign to Hardcock Canyon - as a 26 year old "man" I did this), I know the office buildings used, where Chotzkies was. It was as if the movie was made for me.
Article was a fun read - is like to hear Chris Rocks voicemail for Judge. McGinley sounds like a riot to work with, a little wheels off.
