<\/p>\n
BY MAGGIE SCOTT<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/span>Once, his claim to fame was as actress Justine Bateman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kid brother. <\/span>As a 12-year-old, he cut his acting teeth with a roles in the early \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on <\/span>“Little House on the Prairie” and “Silver Spoons”; portrayed Joe Kennedy III in the 1985 mini-series, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Robert Kennedy and His Times;\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and took the lead role in the 1987 film <\/span>Teen Wolf Too.<\/em><\/span> <\/span>These earned Jason Bateman a following and steady, but undistinguished work in TV and film.<\/span><\/p>\n \n \n <\/span>Most recently, he led the cast of the show, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Arrested Development,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d from 2003 to 2006. <\/span>Now as a seasoned actor, and wearing his maturity well, Bateman finally makes his mark as a leading man in the screwball comedy Extract<\/em><\/span>, from writer\/director (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Office Space\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) Mike Judge. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gleefully ill-conceived remedy for the sexual frustration of food extract manufacturer Joel Reynolds (Bateman). <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>Challenges at his small plant are making Joel vulnerable to thoughts of selling out to General Foods. <\/span>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. <\/span>The idea seems good to Joel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plant manager (J.K. Simmons), who can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be bothered to learn the employees\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 names—like the fork-lift operator he calls \u00e2\u20ac\u0153boy genius.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>A big reason for Joel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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. <\/span>That has always been the cut-off time <\/span><\/p>\n for her being open to plans for conjugal relations. <\/span>She thinks he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too busy with work. <\/span>He thinks she prefers \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Dancing with the Stars.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>When he cries on the shoulder of his buddy Dean (Ben Affleck), who bartends at the Marriott Hotel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Sidelines Sports Bar, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s offered a couple of options: drugs, or he services of a gigolo named Brad (Dustin Milligan). <\/span>Joel passes on the drugs, but doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think through the idea of the gigolo. <\/span>He only gets as far as Dean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reasoning that if Suzy cheats with Brad, then Joel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s free to cheat with the factory\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hot new temp worker, Cindy (Mila Kunis).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>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. <\/span>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 . <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>If Step (Clifton Collins, Jr.) would think this through, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d 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. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t short-change the human touch. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>Bateman is outstanding as the straight man ringleader of a supporting ensemble in zany synch. A Miramax release, rated R for language and <\/span>sexual content.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BY MAGGIE SCOTT Once, his claim to fame was as actress Justine Bateman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kid brother. As a 12-year-old, he cut his acting teeth with a roles in the early \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on “Little House on the Prairie” and “Silver Spoons”; portrayed Joe Kennedy III in the 1985 mini-series, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Robert Kennedy and His Times;\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and took the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n