Clockwatchers (1997)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Jill Sprecher

Writers:

Jill Sprecher (written by) and
Karen Sprecher (written by)

Release Date:

15 May 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

FOUR GIRLS. FOUR DREAMS. ONE OFFICE.

Plot:

Iris can best be described as a wallflower. She begins her first day as a temp for the nondescript Global...

Plot Keywords:

Office | Temporary Worker | Origami | Secretary | Bar

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Toni Collette	...	Iris Chapman
Parker Posey	...	Margaret Burre
Lisa Kudrow	...	Paula
Alanna Ubach	...	Jane
Helen FitzGerald	...	Cleo
Stanley DeSantis	...	Art
Jamie Kennedy	...	Eddie
David James Elliott	...	Mr. MacNamee
Debra Jo Rupp	...	Barbara
Kevin Cooney	...	Mr. Kilmer
Bob Balaban	...	Milton Lasky
Paul Dooley	...	Bud Chapman
Scott Mosenson	...	Jack Shoberg
Irene Olga López	...	Coffee Lady (as Irene Olga Lopez)
Joshua Malina	...	Global Credit Receptionist

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief language.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Netherlands:AL | Australia:M | Norway:A | Spain:13 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Goldcrest Films International

Goofs:

Continuity: When Iris and Margaret are at Margaret's apartment, Iris is holding a small ashtray and Margaret says she got it from a hotel. In the next shot Iris holding what appears to be a small dish of food, or even a microwave dinner platter.

Quotes:

Margaret: What happened?
Iris Chapman: I guess, I'm just not like you.
Margaret: Yah know it's sad, isn't it, how people always end up betraying each other? And for what?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in New Guy (2003)

Soundtrack:

Trailer's End

Clockwatchers leaves it mark

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.