abbywts That's the line that Parker Posey's character, Margaret Burre (as in burr under the saddle?), asks Toni Collete's, Iris (one who watches and sees?). It comes at the halfway point in this densely layered, fully character driven, dark comedy-drama. She goes on, "...like you're not connected to anything or anyone?" And that is the main question, what are these people connected to?Hard to believe this film is 17 years old, I've watched it a dozen times over the years and, like a good novel, pick something up every time. I recall the first time I watched it, I had a strange sense of awkwardness and unease, much like how the shy Iris must feel a lot of the time. It has a low key humor about it, but it is really quite dark. Iris stumbles into a group friendship at work that finally makes her feel less awkward and belonging to something that matters. All four of the ladies have their issues, mostly in some form of denial of reality. To me, the healthiest one of the bunch is Parker Posey's character, Margaret. Posey does one of her best roles ever playing a spunky, irascible but ultimately hollow young woman who is floating through life, much to the disappointment of her parents. Margaret gets it, though. She knows the score, with the BS the company puts out and even the things her friends try to hide. She has a fearlessness about her. As all good things must end, the closeness and bonding come to an end when a strange, shy almost Iris-like character from another dimension comes into the firm, Cleo. Cleo is a disturbed woman who makes up for her shortcomings but shortchanging others, in this case by targeted stealing that makes it seem as if the four temps-Cleo is permanent-are the ones stealing. It works, the four are suspected and gradually put into more and more demeaning work situations. At one point, even Iris thinks that Margaret is the one stealing. The dramatic scene of Margaret being walked out is painful, especially when it's revealed for certain it's not her, but true to her fearlessness, she does not go out without a fight. Iris finds out that it's Cleo just like Margaret suspected from the start and seeks a restitution that also winds up transforming her.Just like the characters had a special moment in time that could never come again, so to did these actors. Collette was just a few years in America having been successful in her native Australia. Posey was making a name for herself as the quirky indie film girl. Kudrow was at the height of visibility with Friends and branching off into movies. Don't know much about Ubach. All in all, a great, quiet, strangely uneasy movie that should be seen more than once.

Steve Pulaski Jill Sprecher's Clockwatchers sooner-or-later would've found an audience if it weren't for Mike Judge's Office Space, a film tackling the same subject and distributing it to a broader audience. While that film is more mail-oriented and houses a lot of obscurities and quirks that can only be found in cinema, Clockwatchers is more female-oriented and grounded in reality. Pairing the two up in one of those "His vs. Hers" double feature DVD sets with a cardboard spinner that allows the couple to humanly settle which film they get to watch first would be an ideal move for these films.It's evident that Sprecher (who co-wrote the flick with her sister Karen) has had some experience with working in an office or a cubicle, and portrays the hell of working in one in a way that one could easily relate. Every minor detail is accentuated appropriately (and annoyingly in a fitting way) such as the clacking of keyboard keys, the ringing of the telephone, the stock music on the radio that allegedly increases employee productivity, and the sounds of overpriced leather shoes hitting the cheap, furnished rugs in the offices of these white collar prisons.Yes, we the film is set in the nine-to-five hellhole that is Global Credit, an archetypal firm that employs a number of executives and office tempts that are easily-replaceable and dehumanized on the spot. We begin on Iris's (Toni Collette) first day there, which is burdened by feelings of inferiority and blandness. That is until she meets fellow tempts, such as the sassy Margaret (Parker Posey), the happy hour-hunter Paula (Lisa Kudrow), and Jane (Alanna Ubach), who is engaged to an unfaithful man. The girls bond, obviously because they know the stress, hell, and the feelings of uselessness that exists when you work as a tempt in a cookie-cutter office building.Their relationship carries the film to several heights, some of which frightening, some of which emotionally-testing, all of which entertaining on some level. Sprecher gives these women real problems and time to show them over the course of ninety-one minutes. It helps, too, that she utilizes a cast of pure champions, especially Toni Collette, who plays shy and nervous excellently, all the while holding the persona of a character trying to do the right thing in the face of a conflict. Having her assisted by actresses like Posey, Kudrow, and Ubach are something of an indie miracle.In addition, there is smart, believable focus on the people who work outside of the girls' circle in the office. One man in particular is hugely protective over the office supplies, such as staples (not his red stapler, though), pencils, paper, and his prized-possession - a rubber-band ball. We're also told that when times get really mundane and the work becomes an endless drudge, people around the office purposely start drama with others. For instance, Margaret steals the man's rubber-band ball for the fun of it. And eventually, someone begins stealing something of everyone's, causing an office uproar.Clockwatchers, like Office Space, will be enjoyed and appreciated by the people who've unfortunately had to endure the drudgery both films amplify on the big-screen. It makes me wonder if working at a low to medium rank in a corporate office is better or any more rewarding than working a register or stocking at your archetypal minimum wage. There are serious truths about the white collar world - how dehumanizing workers is a regular event, how the overworked are undervalued, and the constant fear of replacement never subsides - and Clockwatchers explores it maturely and, to some even, in an eye-opening manner.Starring: Toni Collette, Parker Posey, Lisa Kudrow, and Alanna Ubach. Directed by: Jill Sprecher.

doktor d 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.

azwuffkub There are a couple of specific details about the movie in this, so I suppose you could consider it a spoiler - but considering this plot is a rather slow-paced sarcastic drama, none of the details will be a huge revelation.I watched this movie at work on CBS around 3:00 a.m. Having worked for several temp agencies, and having gotten canned from one particular job due to "temp backstabbing", I can relate to the characters in this film very well.My feelings about this movie are mixed. I loved the movie because it was so true to life. I hated the movie because it was so true to life - or perhaps because it reminded me how life really is a lot of the time. The drudgery of being a cog in the corporate machine is evident in all four of the women, and the eventual "contract termination" of Margaret because of her attempts to stand out in the machine, are too often the fact of everyday life. Iris's struggle to "make her mark", as she puts it, is almost eerily true to life; the world often resists our best attempts to leave our "I was here!" sign on it. How many times in my somewhat gray existence have I thought, as Iris, "If I were to disappear, would anyone notice?" But the important, uplifting fact of the movie (and perhaps the only one that kept me from going suicidal despite terrific plot) is Iris's final "scratching-out" act to show that she will keep struggling to make her mark.This, I think, is a bit of a diamond in the rough. I'd almost consider it an indie film, except I believe it got more press than most indies. On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being best), I'd give this movie an 8.5. The plot is just a little TOO slow at times; otherwise, this is a great "socio-political comedy/drama", especially for anyone who has ever temp'ed for a large corporation.