Netflix Chronicles: Idiocracy

I was catching up on a few bygone episodes of The Triple Feature (a weekly film discussion by the minds behind Theatre Hopper, Joe Loves Crappy Movies and Multiplex) the other day when Mike Judge’s Idiocracy entered the talk. Fox gave the film a very limited release after shortchanging its financing and truncating its production, making it a virtually straight-to-DVD release. Interesting, seeing as much worse fare finds its way to a wide release these days.

Joe Bowers (Luke Wilson) is an everyman who volunteers to test an advanced hibernation system, only to awaken – 500 years later – to a planet so dumbed down by various devices that his average IQ makes him the smartest man alive. Satire appears to be the name of the game but inconsistency and a surprising lack of focus keep Idiocracy from reaching the lofty heights it appears to be shooting for.

Exaggerations of current trends (such as a gallon-sized hot/cold mug or a Costco large enough to have three of its own zip codes) are hilarious, even if a few do go just a bit too far. Unfortunately, flaws in the logic of Idicoracy’s future world hinder the attempted satire. Everything (including medical diagnosis) being left to machines (with idiotproof buttons) begs the question of who is inventing the machines in the first place, and who is maintaining them in the present.

In the absence of satire, social commentary is played safely, but solidly. Wrestlers turned politicians and television shows revolving around kicks to the groin do little to differentiate Judge’s moron-filled 2505 from good ‘ole present day 2007 – clearly the play all along. It’s never as serious as it maybe should have been, but with a solid turn by Wilson and enough gags that are somewhat headier than a kick to the junk, Idiocracy is far from a failure.

[5/10]