Haiku Tunnel

I only watched this because I was intrigued by the title and when I read the description in the online tv listings it just said, "temp job becomes permanent," and I wanted to see how you could get a movie out of that. Anyway, this film is absolutely wonderful, laugh out loud funny throughout. It's based on a monologue by Josh Kornbluth, parts of which are included, and that's probably the weakest part of the movie, since while it probably worked great with an audience some of it seems overly silly and frenetic without a live audience laughing. But most of it is utterly amazing, especially for us ex temps who loved Clockwatchers, and there are some wonderful performances, most notably Helen Shumaker as a Nurse Ratchet-style head secretary and Warren Keith as Josh's low-key boss. Well worth seeing, I gave it 8/10 in the vote.

That Josh Kornbluth is a cross between the young Zero Mostel and the not-so-young Woody Allen. He is the epitome of the schlemiel, which makes me realize that if you're Jewish, you will find it hilarious, but if you're a WASP (like my wife) you won't think it's funny, but sad. The poor guy... he needs help. That's why this permanent 'temp' becames tempted to 'perm.' He'll take a permanent job because the law firm will cover his psychotherapy. He's desperately in need of psychotherapy, and he seems to know it, but there's no indication he's in it, except that he's prone to free-associate, and so his unconscious spills onto he screen and into your lap, which gives the viewer mixed feelings. He talks to the audience, he has fantasies, he gets back to the plot, and new characters come on. The funniest is when he starts lying to a paralegal and she is so enchanted in his story that he's a full-time tax attorney who writes novels on the side. This is very similar to a recent New Yorker short story, which I think is by the same guy. He milks the situation of lying in order to get a gal in bed, and then guilt and inability to keep up the lies, and get kicked out of bed. It is clear he would rather sleep than screw, which indicates his need for therapy, one of these chronic lowgrade depressions that don't respond to Prozac or Paxil.

I don't understand why people gave this film such harsh criticism. For a comedy, it really hit a nerve, and that's no easy task. It's a satire and a cynical analysis of the modern workplace and the ridiculousness that comes with mindless desk jobs. The main character was clearly not meant for a 9 to 5 routine, and this film showed what happens to creative people stuck in a cubicle all day long: they get depressed and create mind games to maintain their sanity. I thought this film did a very good job in showing that the regimentation of corporate life is not conducive or compatible with free thought. The characterizations of the boss, coworkers, and the head secretary were very funny. This film reminds me why corporate America is failing. The dismal, over regimented conditions are not compatible with free thought, and for the writer to show this in the context of a comedy makes it all the more clever. I really don't understand how people could not see this point. It's an enjoyable and well made little film that takes you inside the mind of an inconspicuous office "temp". It's very funny.

The Synopsis: "I don't go perm on my first week." remark the words of Josh Kornbluth, a San Francisco office temp by day, an aspring novelist whenever. Josh has gotten a new temp job with S&M, a downtown law firm where he works as a receptionist. But going back on his words, Josh takes on a "permanent" position as the receptionist of head lawyer Bob Shelby, and his first task is to mail out 17 high priority letters, but due to Josh's continual procrastination which run between his novel and an attractive lawyer, Josh gets further and further away from completing a simple task.

Review: If you've ever worked as a temp, you'll very much appreciate the kind of humor that the offbeat "Haiku Tunnel" injects. The Kornbluth Brothers' film captures every nook and cranny of temping from receiving that much awaited phone call to carrying out those simple tasks. A former temp himself, lead Josh Kornbluth is amusing in many ways from his unusual, yet warm personality as the inept temp. I really don't want to spoil the humor, but if you're offbeat, and I mean, a very offbeat individual, then "Haiku Tunnel" is precisely the kind of film you would want to view.

Anyone who has worked in a corporate office will recognize characters and events in this movie which will make you laugh out loud and wince at the same time. For example there's a one-day orientation class which is totally mind numbing. This movie also contains the best depiction yet of SysAdmin support for the computers, although it is only in two brief scenes. As an IT support professional, I'd like all my users to watch this movie just for these two scenes. The same weekend, I watched Way Downtown which makes similar points about the drudgery of office work, but had far fewer laugh-out-loud moments. I've never worked as a temp, but I've had several temps work on my team and have observed the changes in attitude and behavior that occur when one of them makes the transition to "perm" and Josh compresses that evolution into just his first week of work. Highly recommended.