Movie Review: Idiocracy (2006)

I don't know where to start with this one.

Idiocracy was directed by Mike Judge (who also directed Office Space).

Watching Idiocracy makes you feel kind of dirty. As if you've just watched 84 minutes of America's Funniest Home Videos, Cops, and Jackass, all rolled into one (without the guilt trip). If you see this movie, you will also easily recognize the irony in that last statement.

Idiocracy is about an average military guy, played by Luke Wilson--who happens to be perfect at delivering the dead-pan lines that are called for in this rather witty script. He discovers he's been included in a military experiment because of his average-ness, along with a prostitute (played by Maya Rudolph of Saturday Night Live fame). The two are put into a kind of suspended animation, then forgotten about for several hundred years. When they are finally resuscitated, it's a hilarious, dystopian future where the stupid people have out-bred the smart ones. Now, the morons live in a failed civilization that's on the verge of crumbling. Soon, the two learn they are the smartest people on earth; and it's not long before they're on the run from a society that doesn't appreciate their intelligence.

I admit, I enjoyed the wry sense of humor in this film. The in-jokes are plentiful and range from vulgar to politically incorrect, without ruining the subtle intelligence that lies beneath.

Unfortunately, this film is straight-up racist. It's not bigoted in a racist, philosophical, heavy-handed way, but it's more subtle and lighthearted in its racism. See, in the future, everyone speaks a sort of street speech, a combination of ebonics and gangster slang. There are plenty of minorities in this future world as well (including the President, a former Pro Wrestler), virtually ensuring viewers draw the connection between minorities and low IQ. Mike Judge seems to be forewarning me against myself and it just doesn't seem to work for me. Nevertheless, there is plenty of social commentary here, aside from race, that makes this film a must-view. Some people are saying this film is more controversial than Borat; having not yet seen Borat, I can't say. But I can vouch for the fact that Idiocracy is a smart movie that's getting off on telling its viewers that they're stupid, stupid, stupid.

If anything, my only complaint about this film is that it relied too heavily on stereotypes to crack jokes. Also, the narrator's commentary was a little annoying and unnecessary and would have made for a much stronger, more serious film, had it been removed. Talk about the ultimate in-joke: Mike Judge is calling us all idiots by having to explain the plot to us via a narrator. Clever.

By the end, it all grew a bit tiresome; but it was definitely fun while it lasted.

Sifted: 8.5/10