Clockwatchers

Movie Name: Clockwatchers
Year of Release: 1997
Director: Jill Sprecher
Starring: Toni Collette, Parker Posey, Lisa Kudrow, Alanna Ubach, Helen Fitzgerald, Stanley DeSantis, Jamie Kennedy, David James Elliott, Debra Jo Rupp, Kevin Cooney, Bob Balaban, Paul Dooley, Scott Mosenson, Joshua Malina, O-Lan Jones, Joe Chrest
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
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Synopsis and Review

"Clockwatchers" is the feature directorial debut of Jill Sprecher. It made the rounds of the Sundance Film Festival of 1997, where one of its stars, Parker Posey, also had Mark Waters' "The House of Yes" in competition. The film focuses its narrative on Iris, a shy young woman who takes a temp job with a credit company. She is soon befriended by another temp veteran, Margaret, who introduces her to Paula, an aspiring actress, and Jane, who is engaged to be married, both of whom are temping until their situations change. Margaret has hopes of becoming an assistant to one of the company's executives, but that soon fades to nothing when the gentleman in question dies of a heart attack. Margaret expects at least to get a good letter of recommendation out of all the temping she's done. In the meanwhile, office thefts have been occurring, with Margaret being one of the chief suspects. When Margaret proposes a one-day strike from work, the group agrees with that decision, but none of them follow through, resulting in Margaret being fired. Also as it turns out, she wasn't the office thief. As all of them go their separate ways, Iris has to portend with another colleague whom she witnesses stealing items from an executive's desk, and also her own notebook. Iris finally decides to take action.

Looking back on "Clockwatchers", this film feels very much like an indie release of the mid 90s. Not only because its cast is peppered with actresses who were the cream of the crop for Independent film of the 1990s, but also for its tone and rhythm. It's a feature where plot isn't necessarily the focal point of the narrative, but more the meeting point for these characters to interact and showcase a bit of their quirky traits. The four main actresses are cast to their strengths, with Toni Collette's Iris inheriting a bit of the shy demeanor that made the actress so well known in PJ Hogan's "Muriel's Wedding" (and even Douglas McGrath's "Emma"), while Parker Posey takes on the snarky and cynical Margaret (similarly to roles she had already taken on in Rory Kelly's "Sleep with Me", Hal Hartley's "Amateur" and her most recognizable role at the time, Daisy von Scherler Mayer's "Party Girl"). Lisa Kudrow who was then more well known for her run on "Friends", was also coming off Albert Brooks' "Mother", she got tasked with Paula, the aspiring and somewhat ditzy actress, whereas Alanna Ubach, who made a splash with the well received "Denise Calls Up" from Hal Salwen, got the role of Jane, who simply wanted to get married, and was a bit high strung on it. The film is more of a convergence of these characters, who sadly don't get much in terms of a compelling description, or motivation to speak of, however their interactions are nonetheless always peppered with an ease and charm, which makes them feel as lived in characters as they can be (considering how little we know of them). This narrative ploy is the best but also the most limiting aspect of the feature, which ultimately doesn't have much to itself. The cast is stupendous, but the production team is a bit subdued, and the film ultimately looks and feels very much like the time of its production and release. It's watchable for its very talented cast, but not necessarily very memorable.