Obscure Idiocracy is both bold and smart Filmmaker Mike Judge strikes again

Mike Judge attends the 2002 premiere of Spy Kids 2 in Los Angeles. Mike Judge attends the 2002 premiere of Spy Kids 2 in Los Angeles. Photo: Robert Mora, Getty Images Photo: Robert Mora, Getty Images Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Obscure Idiocracy is both bold and smart 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Mike Judge always can take heart in Office Space. His last film as a director flopped in theaters before becoming a huge hit on video and cable. So maybe there's hope for his widely ignored Idiocracy, due on DVD Jan. 9.

Starring Luke Wilson, Idiocracy didn't just flop in theaters last fall. It barely played theaters at all. Dumped by its studio after a year on the shelf, it opened with no fanfare — in fact, no ads — and did dismal business, though the few critics who saw it generally raved.

And well they should have. Idiocracy is a savage sci-fi satire on today's deplorable dumbing-down of American culture.

Taking a cue from Woody Allen's Sleeper, it sends an average guy named Joe (Wilson) 500 years into the future via a suspended-animation experiment. He turns out to be the smartest man alive.

The reasons are established in a hilarious intro, showing how an intelligent couple never manage to reproduce, while a low-IQ doofus launches a tidal wave of equally stupid offspring. And lo, the dumb did inherit the Earth.

Joe's adventures include a stint on the staff of a chaotic White House and a campaign to save crops by the radical concept of using water on them.

Of course, not everyone may appreciate all this. It's OK to laugh with smug superiority at the idiots in Dumb & Dumber. But when the dummies are us, well that's tough, as the creators of Josie & the Pussycats learned when they railed against the gullibility of the same pop consumers they courted as ticket buyers.

Bottom line: Despite some cheesy effects and an uneven laugh quotient, Idiocracy has its heart — and its brain — in the right place.

Of course, as creator of Beavis & Butt-head, Judge may be responsible for some of the same dumbing-down he attacks. But those cartoon characters weren't role models — just outrageous losers.

Besides, give him props for creating yet another Austin-made movie with an elaborate fantasy world that could be set anywhere. Granted, Idiocracy isn't as sophisticated as Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly or Robert Rodriguez's Sin City, but it's just as nervy and boldly creative. America may be getting dumber, but filmmakers in Texas' capital city are looking smarter than those in Hollywood.

The Illusionist

No need to wait for The Prestigeto reach DVD Feb. 20. You can see a far better spin on similar material with The Illusionist.

Both films involve acclaimed magicians enthralling European audiences in the early 1900s, but similarities end there. As a haunting romantic thriller with strong performances and an intriguing plot, The Illusionist is rewarding entertainment.

Edward Norton plays the titular magician, whose popularity perturbs a power-mad Austrian prince (Rufus Sewell). Police chief Paul Giamatti gets the dirty work of bringing Norton down, and that becomes more vital when Norton comes between the prince and his paramour (Jessica Biel).

Shot in Prague but set in Vienna, The Illusionist is rich in period detail and keeps the viewer guessing until its final scene. Like its lead character, the movie makes magic.

bruce.westbrook@chron.com