Clockwatchers

Drain That Soul!

Temporary work can be bad for the soul. I spent a summer temping in a circuit-board assembly plant. I learned quite a bit there, mostly involving ways not to spend my life. Temping is disastrous for the self esteem. Clockwatchers captures this perfectly. The first few minutes are a surreal examination of office life, from the power trips to the strange passage of office time.

Iris, played by Toni Collette, is the main focus of the movie, covering all of the time she works at a generic company. The workplace becomes increasingly tense throughout her tenuous tenure, and we see fellow temps played by Parker Posey, Alanna Ubach, and Lisa Kudrow unwind gradually until they can't take it any more. All of them are good in their roles, but Posey takes her performance to the extreme. Having since seen her in House of Yes, it's something she can be counted on in any movie.

Affirmation

Despite the increasingly depressing story line, this dark comedy ends on a bright note that's more fulfilling than the classic Hollywood ending because it's a small, subtle victory instead of a huge everything-works-out explosion. I enjoyed the entire movie, though, and recommend it unconditionally.