Great Scenes… Office Space
What’s happening? Yeaaaah, I’m gonna have to go ahead and ask you to watch this great scene from this great movie. If you could just go ahead and do that, that’d be greaaat.
Picking a favourite scene from Office Space is a little like picking your favourite Pixar film – it’s just too damn hard. But for me, it’s all about Bobs. Cinema is jam packed with great duos, but Bob Slydell (John C McGinley) and Bob Porter (Paul Willson) are two of the very, very best. Charged with cutting out the deadwood at IT firm Initech, the pair finally get round to sitting down with one Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston), a straight shooter with upper management written all over him.
The following scene, which gets underway at about 0m50, is everyone’s interview fantasy. Who wouldn’t want to go into a room and tell two strangers how little work they do and be rewarded for it? Gibbons, still feeling the effects of some relaxing hypnotherapy, has decided to change his life for the better. The result is a candour which shocks, then charms, the two Bobs, who before long are hanging on his every word.
Livingston really shines here – from his nonchalant pouring of a glass of water to his repetition of the word ‘Bob’ – it’s a crying shame he’s never been used to such good effect since. But this isn’t a one-man show. Willson’s fantastic ‘Bahoo?!’ at 1m38 is so funny you forget he has uttered a word that didn’t exist, while McGinley’s face of indignation upon hearing that Peter has eight different bosses is priceless. ‘The pleasure’s all on this side of the table,’ he says. But, of course, he’s wrong: the pleasure’s all on this side of the TV screen.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SCENE FROM OFFICE SPACE?
Ross v Ross 
October 19, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Agreed, great scene. My favorite would have to be the copier destruction.
October 19, 2009 at 11:42 pm
I had my ‘O’ face on watching this clip
October 20, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Awesome scene, awesome movie. Still a sucker for when they first hear about the Jump to Conclusions mat though. Whatever, this whole freakin thing is great.
October 20, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Why this movie didn’t make Ron Livingston a bigger star I’ll never know. It’s mystifying. Great scene choice — John C. McGinley just kills me here. Every time I watch it it’s like the first time. It’s that good.
Another favorite scene: the “Jump to Conclusions” mat discussion. By the way? I totally have one of those. On the floor beneath my desk.