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

A masterpiece in a minor key

Blistering black comedy co-written by Jill Sprecher (who also directed) and Karen Sprecher, "Clockwatchers" gives us a suffocating office setting so vivid and real I half-expected my own co-workers to show up in it. Toni Collette plays the new temporary in a nondescript building wherein office-incidentals are slowly disappearing from the supply cabinet. The ensemble acting is delightfully accurate, and the strife which ensues in this scenario is comically overwrought and horrifying. Sprecher's direction is focused and brave (no overtures to broadly comical sensibilities), and she nimbly stretches the film's satirical edge quite far without faltering. The movie is a genuine American original, and by the final third I couldn't wait to see it again from the start. ***1/2 from ****