I'm surprised how many people see this as a boring film that does nothing but chronicle the minutiae of modern-day office life. 'Clockwatchers' is a relationship film which also examines the lives of the new breed of second-class citizen in the late 20th century workplace, the temp.<br /><br />Iris (Toni Collette) is a meek temporary hire who stands out about as much as the Muzak at her new assignment, a large credit firm. Luckily she's taken under the wing of Margaret (Parker Posey), the Artful Dodger of the firm's temps who shows her how to survive in this impersonal world. Along with Paula (Lisa Kudrow) and Jane (Alanna Ubach) they form an us-against-them support group and Iris begins to come out of her shell as a person as well. Soon Margaret is conducting a guerilla war against a permanent hire (Helen FitzGerald) who gets a job Margaret had been aiming for and who is almost a mirror image of Iris when she came to work a few weeks before. The office drama is played out in great detail, and the solidarity of the temps is one of the war's casualties.<br /><br />This is a fine, above-average first effort from director Jill Sprecher, who wrote the screenplay with her sister Karen. She's obviously keen to show her skills here, and sometimes she directs the movie like it was 'Citizen Kane,' but that's not much of a fault. A little more serious problem is that after its climax the film loses some steam moving towards the denouement, but overall the screenwriting sisters have produced an entertaining film that speaks with authority on its subject. Let's hope they find regular employment.