Office Space has continued to provide relevant laughs since its premiere in 1999, delivering some the most quotable lines in comedy film history. Set mostly in a banal, cubicle-filled gray office, the story follows twenty-something Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston) who becomes fed up with his monotonous job and difficult boss (Gary Cole). Peter decides to break bad and forgo all of his work responsibilities and for once, do what he wants to do with his life, which includes asking out an attractive waitress (Jennifer Aniston) and telling his workplace superiors exactly how he feels about his uninspiring position at the fictitious software company Initech.
The hilarity and lessons of Office Space come from the satirical approach to everyday people dealing with demanding and often frustrating bosses, which is a tale as old as time. In reality, Peter's insubordinate antics, like gutting a fish in his cubicle and drilling the handle off the office door, would get him fired, but ironically end up landing him a promotion in upper-management. Peter's haphazard rebellion is as cathartic as it is humorous, as audiences can enjoy the fantastical notion of skipping out on corporate work responsibilities only to later be rewarded. The supporting cast of Office Space also offer several outstanding one-liners that are some of the most memorable quotes from the movie.
10 "I Was Told I Could Listen To The Radio At A Reasonable Volume, From 9 to 11."
Milton (Stephen Root) is one of the funniest and most memorable characters is Office Space. His character still appears on current memes across the internet. The first scene Milton is introduced in the movie is when an annoyed Peter asks him to turn down his radio while they're working. Milton hushed, stuttering way of communicating makes the line easy to miss without subtitles, but is one of the best in the film. Milton attempts to defend his radio privilege by telling Peter he was permitted to listen to the radio between the hours of 9 and 11 AM, just like another coworker is allowed to use her headphones. Peter respects Milton's right to his radio time and backs off.
9 "Sounds Like Somebody's Got A Case Of The Mondays!"
This familiar line was repeated twice in early scenes of Office Space to Peter, who is in a gloomy mood as he starts another work week. The office secretary Nina (Kinna McInroe) says it to him first, which inspires Peter to get out of the office for lunch, only to be met by an annoying waiter who says the exact same thing. Peter later asks his neighbor Lawrence (Diedrich Bader) if anyone ever says that to him at his job, which Lawrence denies adamantly. The iconic movie quote highlights one of the obnoxious recycled catchphrases that are used at Initech's office and provides a sense of Peter's inability to escape the monotony of his workplace.
8 "Next Friday Is Hawaiian Shirt Day!"
Horrible boss Bill Lumbergh delivers a lame attempt at exciting his employees by announcing that next week, everyone is allowed to wear Hawaiian shirts into the corporate office. The hilarity of the moment is amplified by the lack of enthusiasm from anyone in the office and points out one of the several ineffective ways that Lumbergh and Initech try to keep their employees happy and motivated. Peter gets that memo and starts wearing sandals to work after his revelation that there's so much more to life than corporate demands and stingent office culture.
7 "I Have People Skills! I Am Good At Dealing With People!"
Tom Smykowski (Richard Riehle) delivers this hilarious line when he's vying to keep his job to two upper-management members who are both named Bob. He explains with anxiety-fueled frustration that he is an essential part of the operations at Initech, dealing with the customers so that the engineers don't have to. His defense comes off as an outburst to the corporate Bobs, and a blatantly ironic contrast between what he's saying and how he's saying it as he screams "I have people skills!" with conviction. The Bobs don't buy his pleads and find him contribution to Initech redundant, and end up laying Tom off.
6 "I Believe You Have My Stapler."
This famous Milton line in Office Space has become an internet meme and one of the movie's funniest quotes. The bumbling Milton can never seem to get out what he's trying to say to his boss Bill Lumbergh, who tells him in this scene that they're going to be moving him out of his cublicle and putting him in the basement. For no apparent reason, Lumbergh takes a red Swingline stapler off of Milton's desk after giving him the news, which Milton tries to protest but can barely muster an "I believe you have my stapler" out of his mouth. Milton's honest desire to retrieve the stapler from Lumbergh sets up the fiery climax of Office Space.
5 "We Find It's Always Better To Fire People On A Friday."
The corporate Bobs disclose some of their management strategy to a reckless Peter, who decides to walk into their performance review meeting and tell it exactly how it is. In a stunning turn of events, the Bobs love Peter's straight-shooting attitude and blame Lumbergh for not motivating him enough, claiming that he is in line for a promotion. The blunt delivery of this line combined with the dispassionate truth of the words make this line standout in the movie, and further satires the inconsiderate and inhumane policies at Initech.
4 "Illegal? Samir, This Is America!"
Peter tries to convince his coworker Samir (Ajay Naidu) to go in on their scheme to creatively steal money from Initech with their other coworker Michael Bolton (David Herman). Samir is worried about getting caught and the immorality of breaking the law, which Peter finds hilarious, pointing out the commonality of white collar crime in tech and finance businesses. It also satirically points out how it is acceptable or even expected to break the rules in America in order to get rich quick, which is not actually valid but is a common theme in corporate movies such as The Wolf of Wall Street.
3 "Call It A Going Away Present."
Peter tells Michael and Samir that they're going to get fired while he'll get promoted, which is exactly what ends up happening. To make them feel better, Peter steals the annoying office printer that gave all of them trouble throughout the film and gives it to his two buddies, telling them to do whatever they want with it. The movie cuts to a funny sequence with the three characters destroying the printer with baseball bats, a therapeutic release of repressed frustration at the printer and also a symbol of the destruction of their careers at Initech.
2 "Say Hello To Lumbergh For Me!"
Peter finds out that the girl he's been dating Joanna (Aniston) previously slept with Lumbergh, which is too much for him to handle. He berates her and makes her feel bad about that encounter, which was long before she started dating him. Although the dated interaction alludes to the cultural normalities of the late-90s, the final line of their interaction remains one of Office Spaces's most memorable lines. Peter could still be unhinged and senstive from finding out that his girlfriend had been cheating on him earlier in the movie.
1 "I Asked For A Mai Tai, And They Brought Me A Piña Colada"
The final scene of Office Space contains one of the best lines in the movie with Milton lounging on a beach. After somehow burning the Initech office down and not getting in trouble for it, Milton finally takes a much-needed vacation from work, but still is disregarded and not taken seriously by a waiter who brought him the wrong drink. Milton mumbles to himself all the things he could do in retaliation, feeling confident after setting his office ablaze, and provides a hilarious last quote of the hilarious comedy Office Space that continues to withstand the test of time.