Clockwatchers

At the suggestion of co-workers, I rented this film, and was amazed at the honest and funny portrayal "Clockwatchers" offers. Sure, it's a slow-moving tale, but working in an office is like that--slow, monotonous, boring. This movie is a very funny satire of inner-office politics. I am surprised the amount of negativity directed towards the film. Perhaps it was a bit too honest?

Parker Posey is so perfect in this movie. Toni Collette has the perfect low-key performance to work off Posey's. Lisa Kudrow is funny, but she smartly remains in the background for most of the movie. Alanna Ubach has the thankless role of doing nothing. However, all four work so well off each other, you can easily overlook the negatives.

For the person who commented that there are no offices like the one portrayed here, let me say: WRONG! I have worked in two offices that are nearly identical to that portrayed. It was horrible, and I quit both of them quickly. Admittedly, the film does push the realism boundaries, though this is a satire. Exaggeration is key to satire.

Go rent this movie. Preferably on DVD for the widescreen. This is better than "Office Space" and is more honest in its depiction of office life. It's sad, funny, quirky, and original. Parker Posey's brilliant performance is worth the price alone. Two Thumbs Up? You bet!

So many people write that this movie is about temporary replacement workers. It is not. It is a warfield with the soldiers disguised as office workers. It's a look at humanity, it is a look at human trust, compassion, greed, and ambition. It is a look at the every thing that divides people, no matter how silly the things may seem. One may look at everything people do in this movie, and think "Why are these people getting so upset. Nothing here REALLY matters, but they pretend like it's the end of the world." Well, this is the only world they know. This is the world they are stuck in, and this is the only world they think they'll ever be a part of. The little things show just as much about character as the killings in a war. Some of the characters kind of realize there's more to life, and these are the ones we hope for. There is so much in this film that could be observed. Saying this is a movie about a bunch of office temps is like saying "American Beauty" is a movie about a man going through mid-life crisis. There is so much more in it. It is possible to learn as much about human nature in this as it there is in an epic war movie.

The cast is particularly superb. Parker Posey was born to play her role. There is no actress that can play the arrogant, hyper, rude yet somehow lovable female as Posey. Lisa Kudrow adds a thorough discomfort the movie is trying to achieve. In "Clockwatchers", she plays her stereotypical "comic bimbo" role in a way that doesn't seem funny. Her character is more sad. In a typical office comedy, her character would get the most laughs. Not here. She plays it in a way you can only feel sorry for her, and you can only hope she finds a better life. Somehow, you know that she can't.

This is certainly not a comfortable movie to sit through. You have to be more in the mood to see "Saving Private Ryan" than you would, say, "Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion". It digs too deep, and most people wouldn't be in the mood to see that on a Friday night. If you look deep enough, however, and are patient enough, there are so many great gifts this movie can provide. My rating: 10/10.

I saw this on cable last night, just 2 days after seeing the Sprecher sisters' latest film, 13 Conversations About One Thing - that was the reason I stayed up til 2:30 a.m. to watch it, in fact (please read my review of 13 Conversations, posted yesterday). This film is linear - one scene following the other chronologically - and therefore not as challenging to the viewer as 13 Conversations, but it does leave its mark (as one character in the movie has been told to do).

Writer/Director Jill Sprecher is extremely adept in nailing down specifics, and this gift for detail is in full evidence here. The film is about fear, lunch hours, pettiness, toilet paper, loneliness, rubber band balls, despair, paper clips, friendship, pencils, desperation, cocktail garnishes, anger - downright fury, actually - at being marginalized by the illusion of society - and much more. Toni Collette's face is still in my memory - her terrified-to-do-or-say-the-wrong-thing rabbit eyes, her rapture at feeling connected to her 3 fellow temp workers (and specifically, seeing her nose crinkle the way it does when she smiles), the desolation of seeing their bond destroyed by wretched but inevitable bone-chilling office politics and fear.

It's a small slice of life, Clockwatchers, but it's an important slice, one that anyone who has ever interacted with anyone on a daily, money-driven basis can relate to. If you've ever held a job, I'm saying, you will see yourself mirrored in at least some of these meticulous details.

For some reason I'd been resisting seeing this film until a friend thrust it into my hands and said, "C'mon, Toni Collette and Parker Posey, how can you go wrong?"

Maybe I was resisting because I didn't want to see my life up there on the screen. Currently working in a temp job (where I am typing this review), "Clockwatchers" is terrifyingly familiar. It's not a hilarious comedy, although it is quite funny. Certain moments threaten to veer into David Lynch-style self-conscious surrealism, but the director reigns these moments in, in the nick of time.

It's a film about small things happening in an enclosed space, and the friendships that grow between the most unlikely of people, due mostly to proximity. The mood of paranoia that emerges in the second half of the film is perfect - turning trivialities into monumental acts of anarchy and betrayal. The office becomes a sealed microcosm where the theft of a tiny plastic monkey becomes the end of the world.

Not everyone is going to understand this film - it's not "Office Space", which is more accessibly 'wacky'. You're not going to chuck it on with your mates and have a good laugh. It's much more sombre and serious and ultimately quite sad. And it's made me quit my job (so perhaps I should have given it 10 stars, just for that).

Jill Sprecher, the enormous talent behind "Clockwatchers", needs to be seen more often. We saw this witty comedy in its original debut and it was a pleasure to watch it again on IFC. Ms. Sprecher and her sister Karen wrote a delicious movie that is on the one level a satire about the way "temps" are used in an office, and it's at the same time, a character study about these four souls at the center of the movie.

Each one of the young women in the film has a problem. They come together because they don't have a life on their own. Iris, Margaret, Paula and Jane, form a bond because they find safety in numbers. Iris is a clever girl whose shyness doesn't let her assert herself and is dragged along by the others that show stronger personalities. Margaret puts up a front, but deep down, she is just as vulnerable as the others. The most pathetic one is Paula, a woman who is pretending to be what she is not. Jane is waiting for the security of marriage to beat it out of being a temp.

When the sneaky Cleo is hired as a permanent employee, the problems in the office are magnified. As things begin disappearing from the office, all eyes point to the four temps. That is the beginning of the end of the clique, as they knew it. Iris is the one that stays the longer and she is the one that discovers the mystery of the missing things in the office, but alas, it's too late, because at that time she leaves the temp job.

Toni Collette, Parker Posey, Lisa Kudrow and Alana Ubach, are perfect as the four temps. Toni Collette has a better role where to shine as most of the story is seen through her eyes. Parker Posey is delightful as the free spirited Margaret. Lisa Kudrow also makes a good contribution with her pathetic Paula. Helen Firzgerald, who only has a few lines, cast a giant shadow as the creepy new employee that wants to make friends with Iris, only to be ignored.

The Sprecher sisters created a film that feels real a situation one has seen is prevalent in the office setting.