Clockwatchers

Directed by Jill Sprecher, Clockwatchers details the exploits of four office temps (Toni Collette’s Iris, Parker Posey’s Margaret, Lisa Kudrow’s Paula, and Alanna Ubach’s Jane) over the course of a few eventful weeks. There’s little doubt, ultimately, that Clockwatchers fares best in its compelling, relatable first act, as filmmaker Sprecher, armed with her and Karen Sprecher’s screenplay, does a terrific job of establishing the four protagonists and their continuing efforts at surviving office culture on a day-to-day basis – with the movie certainly benefiting from the top-notch and thoroughly compelling efforts of its talented leads. (And it doesn’t hurt, either, that Sprecher has elicited stirring performances from such eclectic periphery players as Jamie Kennedy, Paul Dooley, and Bob Balaban.) And while the picture’s been packed with agreeably recognizable work-related digressions and asides, Clockwatchers doesn’t begin to run out of steam until it progresses into a disappointingly (and distressingly) plot-focused second half, as Sprecher, having alienated Iris from the other three protagonists, increasingly stresses a tiresome theft storyline that ensures the movie slowly-but-surely peters out – which is a shame, ultimately, given the entertaining, engaging bent of the movie’s initial stretch.

**1/2 out of ****