Clockwatchers (1997)

The relationship between four female temps all working for the same credit company is threatened with the arrival of a new hire, who lands a permanent position one of the women was vying for.

Director:

Jill Sprecher

Writers:

Jill Sprecher, Karen Sprecher

Stars:

Toni Collette, Parker Posey, Lisa Kudrow

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Iris can best be described as a wallflower. She begins her first day as a temp for the nondescript Global Credit Association by waiting in a chair for two hours. This sets the scene for her (mis)adventures with the other "corporate orphans", Margaret, Paula and Jane. Led by Margaret, they find subtle ways to lessen the ennui of corporate oppression. The tension escalates when the new permanent hire, Cleo, enters the picture.

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Plot Keywords:

office | f rated | title directed by female | snobbery | office politics | 

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Taglines:

FOUR GIRLS. FOUR DREAMS. ONE OFFICE.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief language

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 May 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Avokonttorin prinsessat

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$34,838, 17 May 1998, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$444,354, 23 August 1998

Company Credits

Production Co:

Goldcrest Films International, John Flock Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lisa Kudrow and Debra Jo Rupp worked together as sisters-in-law on Friends.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Iris Chapman: Everything is temporary. Everything begins and ends and begins again. When I look ahead, I imagine infinite possible futures repeated like countless photocopies, a thousand blank pages, and in each one I see myself, never hiding, never sitting silently, and never just waiting and waiting and watching the world go by.

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Connections

Referenced in At the Movies: Pleasantville/The Alarmist/The Lion King II: Simba's Pride/Apt Pupil/Life is Beautiful (1998)

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Soundtracks

Azure Sands
Written by Les Baxter
Performed by Les Baxter
Published by Skyview Music Corp./Bax Music (ASCAP)
By Arrangement with Ocean Park Music Group

User Reviews

Sprecher's perceptive, sad slice of reality

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.