DVD review
Directed by Mike Judge
Starring Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard
Release date 19 March 2007

In the future the world’s worst nightmare has come true… No, George Bush isn’t still President...

The future of mankind hangs in the balance, and only one man can save us…Luke Wilson. Luke Wilson? Yup, in the world of Idiocracy, Luke Wilson, or rather ‘average’ Joe Bauers, is the saviour of humanity.

Set 500 hundred years in the future, the evolution of humanity hasn’t gone quite the way Darwin predicted. Populated by the stupidest people the planet has ever produced, humanity is incapable of solving even the most basic of problems, like watering plants with water and not a sports drink.

Having taken part in an experimental hibernation project, Bauers awakens in 2505, and discovers that he is now the smartest man alive. The President (an ex-pimp and ex-wrestler) charges Bauers with the task of ending the food crisis. And that’s basically it plot-wise. Billed as a comedy, the frighteningly recognisable idiot America may well leave you sobbing into your popcorn.

It’s not fiction if it’s really happening, and the points that Judge makes, albeit in a heavy-handed way, are increasingly valid. He bemoans the lack of education, the stigma of being smart, and the lazy culture that America has come to embody and the rest of the world aspires to. The movie’s incorporation of a ‘future dialogue’ (a mix of Hick, Valley girl slang and various grunts) works well, but is underused.

Idiocracy does have its moments comedy-wise, most notably in a cameo from everyone’s favorite punch bag, Justin Long (Dodgeball) as a doped up doctor. But really this is a rather mediocre effort from the creator of the excellent Office Space. Emma Matthews

VERDICT: 6/10
Steer well clear if you’re a Guardian reader, this may prove too much to bear…