Haiku Tunnel (2001)

Josh has an offer to "go perm" at his employer and the first task is to mail 17 high priority letters....something that seems a little difficult to do.

Directors:

Jacob Kornbluth, Josh Kornbluth

Writers:

Josh Kornbluth, Jacob Kornbluth

Stars:

Josh Kornbluth, Warren Keith, Sarah Overman

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Josh Kornbluth	...	Josh Kornbluth
Warren Keith	...	Bob 'Bob' Shelby
Sarah Overman	...	Julie Faustino
Leah Alperin	...	Temp #1
Jacob Kornbluth	...	Temp #2
Stephen Muller	...	Temp #3
Linda Norton	...	Temp #4
Helen Shumaker	...	Marlina D'Amore
Amy Resnick	...	Mindy
Brian Thorstenson	...	Clifford
June Carryl	...	DaVonne (as June Lomena)
Joanne Evangelista	...	Caryl
Jennifer Laske	...	Helen the Ex-Girlfriend
Patricia Scanlon	...	Helen the Ex-Secretary
Joe Bellan	...	Jimmy the Mail Clerk

Storyline

Haiku Tunnel is a frenetic office comedy about a neurotic male secretary who is a terrific temp but a horrible perm. When his new boss (a tax attorney who just may be Satan) gives him 17 very important letters to mail out, he doesn't, and the ensuing complications bring him face-to-face with a lifetime of personal demons.

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Plot Keywords:

boss | secretary | office | corporate world | based on monologue | 

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Taglines:

An office comedy

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 January 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

I'm Just a Secretary

Filming Locations:

Oakland, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$92,723

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$92,723

Company Credits

Production Co:

B9 Films, Hello Hooker Productions, Mike's Movies

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The director's lack of frog anatomy knowledge resulted in the eyeglasses for the frog eventually being jury-rigged with a paper clip and rubber band.

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Goofs

When going through the instructions left for Helen, Joshua says it is "Eleven and a half single-spaced pages", but the document is double-spaced.

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Quotes

Bob 'Bob' Shelby: Go back to your desk. Settle down. Focus. And catch up.

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Crazy Credits

No frogs were harmed in the making of this motion picture

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Alternate Versions

DVD includes outtakes and six deleted scenes:

• Medieval Marlina: a 'secretarial simulation' showing Marlina dressed in medieval garb;
• Neurotic Adventurer: on his way to the Pine building, Josh has a flashback of himself in college;
• Apology: more footage of Josh trying to convinge the guard to let him enter the Pine building;
• Politeness: Josh complains about Bob Shelby's constant politeness;
• Fatelets: Josh delivers a monologue while having sex with Julia;
• Coda: epilogue showing Josh bicycling up on a mountain. He meets Darlene, and they ride away together on her motorcycle.

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Connections

Features Have You Got Any Castles? (1938)

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Soundtracks

Lay Lady Lay
Written by Bob Dylan
Performed by Isaac Hayes
Published by Big Sky Music

User Reviews

Amusing for some, funny for many

The Synopsis: "I don't go perm on my first week." remark the words of Josh Kornbluth, a San Francisco office temp by day, an aspring novelist whenever. Josh has gotten a new temp job with S&M, a downtown law firm where he works as a receptionist. But going back on his words, Josh takes on a "permanent" position as the receptionist of head lawyer Bob Shelby, and his first task is to mail out 17 high priority letters, but due to Josh's continual procrastination which run between his novel and an attractive lawyer, Josh gets further and further away from completing a simple task.

Review: If you've ever worked as a temp, you'll very much appreciate the kind of humor that the offbeat "Haiku Tunnel" injects. The Kornbluth Brothers' film captures every nook and cranny of temping from receiving that much awaited phone call to carrying out those simple tasks. A former temp himself, lead Josh Kornbluth is amusing in many ways from his unusual, yet warm personality as the inept temp. I really don't want to spoil the humor, but if you're offbeat, and I mean, a very offbeat individual, then "Haiku Tunnel" is precisely the kind of film you would want to view.