Jason Bateman is Joel, who went to college in Chemistry, and as a kid growing up noticed that grandma's cookie dough had a much better flavor than the baked cookies. he realized the baking process caused much of the flavor to evaporate, so his big innovation was to use a unique bonding chemical structure that holds in the flavor better. This resulted in his flavor business, as owner and chief Chemist of the company he called "Extract", making and bottling flavor extracts.
The filming was mostly done in a real S. California bottling plant, using some workers as actors and extras. In my former job I have been in many similar manufacturing plants and this gave the whole film a real tone and look.
Things are going well for Joel, the business is doing well and in fact a larger company is showing interest in buying them out. Joel considers the prospect of retiring very young. Until a hapless employee causes a chain reaction resulting in an injury and a possible lawsuit.
But things aren't going very well at home for Joel, his wife hasn't shown much interest in romance for a while and Joel is, to put it mildly, horny. Under the influence of some booze and a couple of horse tranquilizers, Joel unwisely lets a friend (Ben Affleck as the bartender) talk him into hiring a young gigolo to go to his house pretending to be a pool boy to see if Joel's wife can be tempted into an affair.
All this was catalyzed by Mila Kunis as Cindy, a young woman who made her way through life as a con artist, and hoping to get a piece of the lawsuit money. Kristen Wiig of SNL is good as Joel's wife, Suzie. Old reliable J.K. Simmons is Joel's right-hand man at work, Brian. And versatile Clifton Collins Jr. is the hapless Step, who loses a testicle when he gets injured.
All in all a mediocre movie, but one that provides some entertainment and some laughs.
The filming was mostly done in a real S. California bottling plant, using some workers as actors and extras. In my former job I have been in many similar manufacturing plants and this gave the whole film a real tone and look.
Things are going well for Joel, the business is doing well and in fact a larger company is showing interest in buying them out. Joel considers the prospect of retiring very young. Until a hapless employee causes a chain reaction resulting in an injury and a possible lawsuit.
But things aren't going very well at home for Joel, his wife hasn't shown much interest in romance for a while and Joel is, to put it mildly, horny. Under the influence of some booze and a couple of horse tranquilizers, Joel unwisely lets a friend (Ben Affleck as the bartender) talk him into hiring a young gigolo to go to his house pretending to be a pool boy to see if Joel's wife can be tempted into an affair.
All this was catalyzed by Mila Kunis as Cindy, a young woman who made her way through life as a con artist, and hoping to get a piece of the lawsuit money. Kristen Wiig of SNL is good as Joel's wife, Suzie. Old reliable J.K. Simmons is Joel's right-hand man at work, Brian. And versatile Clifton Collins Jr. is the hapless Step, who loses a testicle when he gets injured.
All in all a mediocre movie, but one that provides some entertainment and some laughs.