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BY MAGGIE SCOTT

Once, his claim to fame was as actress Justine Bateman’s kid brother. As a 12-year-old, he cut his acting teeth with a roles in the early ‘80’s on “Little House on the Prairie” and “Silver Spoons”; portrayed Joe Kennedy III in the 1985 mini-series, “Robert Kennedy and His Times;” and took the lead role in the 1987 film Teen Wolf Too. These earned Jason Bateman a following and steady, but undistinguished work in TV and film.

Most recently, he led the cast of the show, “Arrested Development,” from 2003 to 2006. Now as a seasoned actor, and wearing his maturity well, Bateman finally makes his mark as a leading man in the screwball comedy Extract, from writer/director (“Office Space”) Mike Judge.

This is a story of people making a mess of things by not thinking things through to their logical conclusions. The film breezes along poking good-natured fun at some of its denser characters and doling out some light-hearted raunchiness with the plot’s gleefully ill-conceived remedy for the sexual frustration of food extract manufacturer Joel Reynolds (Bateman).

Challenges at his small plant are making Joel vulnerable to thoughts of selling out to General Foods. If he would think the idea through, he might see the negative impact this action would have on his workers; who have been a fractious family up to now. The idea seems good to Joel’s plant manager (J.K. Simmons), who can’t be bothered to learn the employees’ names—like the fork-lift operator he calls “boy genius.”

A big reason for Joel’s thoughts of selling is having the time to give his wife Suzy (Kristen Wiig) some attention before she pulls on her sweatpants at 8 p.m. every night. That has always been the cut-off time

for her being open to plans for conjugal relations. She thinks he’s too busy with work. He thinks she prefers “Dancing with the Stars.”

When he cries on the shoulder of his buddy Dean (Ben Affleck), who bartends at the Marriott Hotel’s Sidelines Sports Bar, he’s offered a couple of options: drugs, or he services of a gigolo named Brad (Dustin Milligan). Joel passes on the drugs, but doesn’t think through the idea of the gigolo. He only gets as far as Dean’s reasoning that if Suzy cheats with Brad, then Joel’s free to cheat with the factory’s hot new temp worker, Cindy (Mila Kunis).

If Joel would think this scenario through, he might realize the potential for not only losing any chance of sex with his wife and her possibly falling in love with Brad, but also for being conned by a consummate grifter. Cindy has not only already struck at the factory—stealing a wallet and a purse—but has already cozied up with an employee planning a personal injury lawsuit against Reynolds Extract after an accident at the plant made him half the man he was .

If Step (Clifton Collins, Jr.) would think this through, he’d realize Cindy wants the money—and maybe his truck—more than him; and that he wants a job to go to—and maybe a promotion to floor manager at the plant—more than the money.

How Joel gets a grip on his work and home life, as well as his friendship with Dean, without losing the most important things in his life, like his integrity, his employees and his wife, makes for some creatively thought-through humor that doesn’t short-change the human touch.

Bateman is outstanding as the straight man ringleader of a supporting ensemble in zany synch. A Miramax release, rated R for language and sexual content.

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