Unfortunately, there are times when movies that have interesting ideas for the plots ultimately end up being not so good. Idiocracy is one of the movies that just didn’t work for me even though I thought it had an interesting idea for the plot.

Joe Bauers, the most average guy in the military was chosen to take place in a top-secret hibernation experiment. He and Rita, a prostitute terrified of her pimp, were supposed to be woken up a year later, but things didn’t go as planned. The experiment was forgotten and Joe and Rita remained in hibernation until 2505. Joe had no clue what was going on when he first woke up and it took a while for him to accept that he was 500 years in the future. Even though there was a lot of technology, basically all people had become idiots. He did find Rita, who was worried that her pimp was going to be after her. Joe was eventually labeled the smartest man alive and President Camacho put him in charge of dealing with the various problems the world was facing.

Idiocracy took a little bit of time to set up the experiment that Joe and Rita were taking part in. There was a narrator that explained certain things which was helpful earlier in the movie. The narrator stuck around throughout the movie, even when he really wasn’t needed later in the movie. There was an explanation for why everyone was so stupid 500 years in the future. While the smarter people waited until they felt the time was right to have children, the dumber people were reproducing like rabbits and they eventually outnumbered the smart people.

I thought that the plot had the potential to be interesting and it was somewhat unique. The main idea did have Joe in a fish out of water story, something that has been done many times before, but having him end up 500 years in the future surrounded by idiots is what made things somewhat unique. The future Joe and Rita woke up to was not pleasant or appealing in any way. Trash was piled in huge mountains because no one knew what to do with it. Everyone spoke in some weird slang and they had no clue what Joe was saying when he spoke normally. Advertisements were everywhere and punishment for criminals was done in an arena on live television that had the criminals facing men armed with flamethrowers or other wild weapons. The fact that there were computers that did some advanced things didn’t make as much sense to me since clearly there was no one around smart enough to run one, let alone build one.

Basically all of the humor in Idiocracy was connected to just how stupid everyone in the future was. Some of the humor did make me laugh, but much of it just didn’t work for me. The jokes about how stupid everyone Joe came into contact with got very old in a hurry and I didn’t think they were that funny to begin with. There was a lot of gross humor used throughout the movie that I didn’t care for either. I didn’t think any of it was funny and most of it was just disgusting. I know that some people thought this movie was very funny, but the humor just didn’t work for me, which made the movie not that good in my opinion.

There was a bit of romance hinted at between Joe and Rita once they met up in the future. I really didn’t believe that there was any sort of attraction or chemistry between them, so that relationship really wasn’t that believable. I didn’t think it really added anything to the movie either. There weren’t any sex scenes, but there were many sexual comments. Most of the characters used a lot of foul language, including many variations of the word that rhymes with luck. The sexual comments and foul language got the movie rated R. There were things in the movie that could offend some viewers and this is not a movie for children of any age to see.

Idiocracy was focused on Joe and how he was dealing with waking up 500 years in the future. He was originally chosen for the experiment because he was the most average guy in the military, so he wasn’t overly intelligent. However, once he was in the future, he was a genius compared to everyone else. He was a nice guy who was trying to manage the best he could in a really bad situation. Luke Wilson was fine in the part.

Rita was a prostitute who was also chosen for the experiment. It took her a little longer to figure out what was going on once she woke up in the future. She was still afraid of her pimp and worried that he was coming after her. She wasn’t overly intelligent either, but she was much smarter than the people in the future like Joe. There wasn’t anything special about Maya Rudolph in the part. Frito, a lawyer, ended up trying to help Joe and Rita. The guy was dumber than a box of rocks and there was no development for the character at all, so Dax Shepard really didn’t have much of anything to do. President Camacho was around in several scenes, but he never seemed to do much of anything other than act like an idiot. Justin Long turned up in a short scene as a doctor. I really wasn’t impressed by any of the acting.

Main Cast

Terry Crews - President Camacho
Maya Rudolph - Rita
Dax Shepard - Frito
Luke Wilson - Joe

Mike Judge - Director

I watched Idiocracy when I found it on one of the HBO channels I get. I know the movie is out on DVD, but I have no idea what sort of extras are on it.

Idiocracy had an interesting idea for the plot and was somewhat entertaining. I didn’t think the humor worked, so it was hard for me to really enjoy the movie. This isn’t a movie that will appeal to everyone.

Luke Wilson Movie Reviews
Around the World in 80 Days ~ The Family Stone ~ Legally Blonde ~ Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde ~ My Super Ex-Girlfriend ~

Recommended: No