Clockwatchers (1998)

Memorable, crazy movie

Masterful Movie

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

I just looked this film up and saw it was only garnering a 5.8 and I was appalled. I've seen it 3-4 times in the past nine years. I have always been a Parker Posey fan. I love the "elevator music". It moved me to go buy some Les Baxter stuff off i-tunes today. It's a dark view of our strange, modern times. It's well shot. It may appear to some perhaps as a chick flick, but I'm a guy and I don't go for chick flicks. It's a heartfelt and provocative film. Totally cool atmosphere. But apparently not popular with the masses. As it should be, I suppose.But that's not all! The IMDb has reminded me that I have not provided enough detail in my comment, so I have to add more. Uhhh, Lia Kudrow and Toni Colette both did admirable jobs. Am I done yet?

Iris is a temp at a company called Global Credit. She makes several friends who are also temps, but she is never really accepted by other employees. The company is not pleasant to work for--the bosses are not shown being really mean, but they just don't truly appreciate their employees. The temps are bored, and most people at the company tend to do as little as they can get away with. Though I have to admit, there doesn't seem to be enough work for the number of people in that office. A couple of examples of the company's attitude--after some thefts, new rules are made and security measures such as cameras are added, and the bosses are always suspicious. Then there is the music--Muzak, elevator music, dentist's office--whatever you want to call it. I'm one of the few people who actually likes that music, and it made the movie worth seeing for me, though the music could have been used more in some scenes where it wouldn't fit, just for irony. Parkey Posey was great as usual. Margaret was charming and almost perky but also cynical and prone to cheating and stealing whenever she felt she could get away with it. She wanted a better career but was having a hard time moving forward. I enjoyed some, but not all, of the scenes with her character. Lisa Kudrow was perky, beautiful and slightly ditzy as an aspiring actress. I assume Toni Collette did a good job as Iris. I just didn't care much for her character, who wanted more out of life just like her co-workers and occasionally narrated. Her father wanted her to work at his company, International Foods, but she didn't seem motivated to do that for some reason.This seemed to be a pretty good movie. There was some comedy, even if the movie tended to be depressing. Something about it suggested an art film that might appeal to, say, Woody Allen fans. It just wasn't really my kind of movie.

Inappropriately marketed as a comedy, Clockwatchers is actually a sad, almost disturbing slice-of-life concerning the empty lives of four office temps and the realistic and/or idealized ways they seek to escape their individual predicaments. This low-key, purposefully bland drama, with spare touches of humor from Margaret (Parker Posey), is steeped in realism, making it all the sadder. Margaret, Paula, and Jane befriend Iris, the central character, at her new temp job. Margaret is loud-mouthed, foul-mouthed, and smart. Paula (Lisa Kudrow) is a young woman with fast-fading beauty, loose morals, and no hope for a future. Jane (Alanna Ubach) is biding her time waiting for her man to marry her and take her away from the temp world. And Iris (Toni Collette) is intelligent but timid. Unlike her new friends, she has the opportunity to score a real job at an interview that her father has lined up for her; however, low self-esteem, shyness, and a new-found friendship with the office girls contribute to her procrastination. Outward, upward mobility seems to scare her. One day Iris stares blankly at her empty diary. Her temp job affects her so badly that she can find nothing to write about; she's been turned into a mindless zombie. During a moment of introspection, she thinks, `Sometimes it hits you, how quickly the present fades into the past. And you question everything around you. You wonder if anything you'd ever do would matter, or if you could just disappear without a trace.' Jill and Karen Sprecher's script is punctuated with perceptive, thought provoking lines, many of which comment on the individual's insignificance in society. Early in the film, Margaret comments on how `a person can just drift through life like they're not connected to anyone or anything.' Later, Iris admits that `even if a person wanted to break free, they could find out they've got nowhere else to go.' Ultimately, the Sprechers' four-character quasi-study can be applied to everyone, every day. Some characters move on, thus positively changing their lives forever; others, whether out of preference, procrastination, or lack of education, stay put, forever locked in dead-end jobs. At the film's end, Iris realizes that improving her situation can come only from `never hiding, never sitting silently, and never just waiting -- and waiting -- and watching the world go by.' Clockwatchers may be a `small' film with a soft voice, but at least it has something to say.

"Clockwatchers" is a very funny little film that sheds light on the frustrations of spending eight hours a day in an entirely unexceptional environment where every action has been reduced to routine. The main characters are four women who entered the working world with hopes of making a life for themselves that would set them apart from the rest of the rat race, but had their dreams dashed when they realized that in today's crowded job market they had to take what they could get. They ended up with desk space in a sterile, faceless office where they depend on their sense of humor and respect for one another to get through the day.This is a story that depends strongly on dialogue and character development to keep the viewer interested. It largely works, with a lot of amusing moments and sharp dialogue throughout, as well as keen observations about the humdrum existence too many of us lead. The always likeable Parker Posey has a terrific performance as the most rebellious and plainspoken of the group. There's also Bob Balaban playing his usual fussy nebbish character, this time as a meticulous number cruncher who can't let go of his pencils. In its second half, however, the story surrenders to the pessimism it tries to battle; the tone shifts from `Dilbert' to Kafka, and some of the characters suddenly become cold and unsympathetic. Nevertheless, it remains insightful and entertaining, something to which the average working stiff could relate.