DIRECTED by the creator of one of the rudest double acts in TV history, and revolving around a storyline where a factory worker loses his testicle in a freak accident, you would be forgiven if you thought Extract would be following in a long line of US gross-out comedies à la American Pie.

But what we actually have is a finely-crafted comedy, subtle for the majority but with plenty of laugh out loud moments and fine performances all round.

Joel Reynolds (Jason Bateman) is the man at the centre of the film - the owner of Reynold's Extract, a small yet successful flavour extract company, whose life changes forever when a worker loses his manhood during a machinery mishap.

What follows is a week from hell for Joel as he gets involved with gigolos, various drugs, an attempted affair with a mysterious woman and the potential loss of his company as the injured worker attempts to sue.

Bateman is perfect as the man whose life begins to fall apart because of one random happening, and he is backed up by a talented cast, including a barely recognisable Ben Affleck as his best friend and bartender Dean.

From the beginning we see that Joel's seemingly perfect life (well-paid job, nice car and big house) is marred by his non-existent sex life with wife Suzie (Kristen Wiig).

On confiding with Dean his problems, the bartender offers him drugs to help him relax, accidentally giving him the horse tranquiliser ketamine instead of an anti-depressant.

Under the influence, Dean prompts Joel to hire a gigolo to seduce his wife, therefore making Joel feel less guilty about his pursuit of a new employee at his factory, Cindy (Mila Kunis).

Things go wrong when the gigolo, Brad (Dustin Milligan), falls in love with Suzie and Joel discovers Cindy is actually a con artist trying to make money from his company.

To make matters worse, the injured worker Step (Clifton Collins Jr) has hired ambulance-chasing attorney Joe Adler (a hilarious Gene Simmons) to sue Joel for everything he's got.

There's a lot going on in the film, but it never gets confused, and there are some very funny set pieces, usually involving the brilliantly moronic Brad or Joel's annoying neighbour Nathan (David Koechner).

Affleck, rarely seen in comedy roles, also has perfect timing, but it's Bateman who is the star of the show - a man slowly moving towards the edge as everything around him falls apart.

In fact, it's the sort of role Ricky Gervais has been searching for since leaving the safety of BBC comedy - a normal man in a world full of lunatics.