With the huge popularity of reality television, wrestling, and other forms of entertainment that are often accused of dumbing down the nation, Mike Judge, has stepped up and given us Idiocracy. Judge who gave us such comedy classics as Beavis and Butt-head, Office Space, and King of the Hill, takes a look at America 500 years in the future.
Luke Wilson stars as Joe Bowers, a soldier who is content to be as average as he can be with little to no ambition in life.
When Joe is selected to take part in a top secret experiment, involving hibernation, he figures that the scheduled one year of the experiment will pass quickly as he tells his companion in the experiment, Rita (Mya Rudolph), that it will be like waking up after a good nights sleep.
What Joe does not know is that Rita is a prostitute recruited for the project, and the events of her participation soon lead to a scandal that has the top secret experiment forgotten.
When Joe awakens he is confused by his surroundings, as people have become downright stupid, and he soon finds himself a criminal through no fault of his own.
Thanks to the inept nature of the population, Joe soon frees himself and thanks to a mandatory IQ test is soon dubbed the smartest man in the country.
After reuniting with Rita, Joe soon finds himself working for the President, but his common sense approach to problems soon sets him at odds with the populace when his solution to a large problem threatens a major corporation.
In short order, Joe is forces to rise to the occasion and save not only the day, but himself as well.
While the film is thin on plot and character development and many of the jokes do not hit as well as the could have, Judge has crafted a look at the side of American that is to often ignored, and has shown what can happen if steps are not taken to improve education and culture.
I think that Idiocracy, may like “Office Space”, be a film that gains cult status when it is released, for now, it is a good idea, that could have been much better.
3 stars out of 5
