PARK CITY, Utah -- A dramatic competition entrant here at the Sundance Film Festival, "Clockwatchers" is a sprightly glimpse into the pink-collar world of temporary office workers. Cheeky and puckishly anti-establishment, the film is a spry delight that, unfortunately, veers into a one-note down spiral into the plight of corporate office workers who are at the beck and call of cost-conscious, downsizing and, uncaring management. In essence, the film seems to have a split personality.
Focusing on four temps at the multinational Global Credit Assn., screenwriters Jill and Karen Sprecher team up to hurl some lethal anti-corporate salvos at big-business America. In their often satirical send-up, we see the giant corporation is more concerned with form than content as management seems obsessed with such things as how many pencils the temp workers have checked out.
The thrust of this viewpoint is told through the saucy temperament of Margaret Parker Posey), who takes keen delight in tweaking the officious noses of her petty bosses. Other than Margaret, however, the other girls are pretty much like those subservient girls in elementary school who kept their heads down and their pencils sharpened, including Iris (Toni Collette), Paula (Lisa Kudrow) and Jane (Alanna Ubach). They all desperately need their jobs and sometime aspire to be a "permanent" employee with the company or a similar entity.
While the first half of the film crackles with some sassy, headstrong fun as the girls conspire to go out on strike, it soon shifts into a somewhat shriller side as the story harps on the plight of such anonymous workers. Scenes are sometimes repetitive in visualizing the plight of the workers and, most unfortunately, the film loses its kicky spirit. For the most part, however, director Jill Sprecher keeps things moving along at a chipper pace, infusing the film with plenty of offbeat personality.
The players are consistently strong, with Posey being the most entertaining as the "bad girl" of the group. Posey's class-clown putdowns and naughty ruses are hilarious. As Iris, the young woman who is shackled by self-doubt, Collette is both touching and convincing. Similarly, Kudrow shows the vulnerable side of her aspiring actress character, while Ubach shows the torment of a young woman who lives vicariously through her boyfriend, counting on marriage as her ticket out of her monotonous life.
Technical contributions are intelligent and generally well-executed, particularly Pamela Marcotte's hilarious production design that totally trashes the corporate world.
CLOCKWATCHERS
Goldcrest Films International presents
A Gina Resnick production
Producer:Gina Resnick
Director:Jill Sprecher
Screenwriters:Jill Sprecher, Karen Sprecher
Co-executive producers:John Quested, Guy Collins
Director of photography:Jim Denault
Editor:Stephen Mirrione
Production designer:Pamela Marcotte
Costume designer:Edi Giguere
Co-producer:Karen Sprecher
Line producer:W. Mark McNair
Casting:Jeanne McCarthy
Color/stereo
Cast:
Iris:Toni Collette
Margaret:Parker Posey
Paula:Lisa Kudrow
Jane:Alanna Ubach
Cleo:Helen Fitzgerald
Eddie:Jamie Kennedy
MacNamee:David James Elliott
Running time -- 105 minutes...
Focusing on four temps at the multinational Global Credit Assn., screenwriters Jill and Karen Sprecher team up to hurl some lethal anti-corporate salvos at big-business America. In their often satirical send-up, we see the giant corporation is more concerned with form than content as management seems obsessed with such things as how many pencils the temp workers have checked out.
The thrust of this viewpoint is told through the saucy temperament of Margaret Parker Posey), who takes keen delight in tweaking the officious noses of her petty bosses. Other than Margaret, however, the other girls are pretty much like those subservient girls in elementary school who kept their heads down and their pencils sharpened, including Iris (Toni Collette), Paula (Lisa Kudrow) and Jane (Alanna Ubach). They all desperately need their jobs and sometime aspire to be a "permanent" employee with the company or a similar entity.
While the first half of the film crackles with some sassy, headstrong fun as the girls conspire to go out on strike, it soon shifts into a somewhat shriller side as the story harps on the plight of such anonymous workers. Scenes are sometimes repetitive in visualizing the plight of the workers and, most unfortunately, the film loses its kicky spirit. For the most part, however, director Jill Sprecher keeps things moving along at a chipper pace, infusing the film with plenty of offbeat personality.
The players are consistently strong, with Posey being the most entertaining as the "bad girl" of the group. Posey's class-clown putdowns and naughty ruses are hilarious. As Iris, the young woman who is shackled by self-doubt, Collette is both touching and convincing. Similarly, Kudrow shows the vulnerable side of her aspiring actress character, while Ubach shows the torment of a young woman who lives vicariously through her boyfriend, counting on marriage as her ticket out of her monotonous life.
Technical contributions are intelligent and generally well-executed, particularly Pamela Marcotte's hilarious production design that totally trashes the corporate world.
CLOCKWATCHERS
Goldcrest Films International presents
A Gina Resnick production
Producer:Gina Resnick
Director:Jill Sprecher
Screenwriters:Jill Sprecher, Karen Sprecher
Co-executive producers:John Quested, Guy Collins
Director of photography:Jim Denault
Editor:Stephen Mirrione
Production designer:Pamela Marcotte
Costume designer:Edi Giguere
Co-producer:Karen Sprecher
Line producer:W. Mark McNair
Casting:Jeanne McCarthy
Color/stereo
Cast:
Iris:Toni Collette
Margaret:Parker Posey
Paula:Lisa Kudrow
Jane:Alanna Ubach
Cleo:Helen Fitzgerald
Eddie:Jamie Kennedy
MacNamee:David James Elliott
Running time -- 105 minutes...
- 1/22/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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