Office temps are not ordinarily thought of as heroic figures in the James Bond mold. And transcribing and mailing "17 very important letters" in a timely and professional fashion may not sound like an exceptional challenge. The droll and disarming "Haiku Tunnel," however, sees things just a little bit differently, and that is its charm.
A sly and captivating comedy of imaginative leaps and gently orchestrated pandemonium, "Haiku Tunnel" is built on the skills, sensibility and astute comic presence of co-director, co-writer (both with brother Jacob) and star Josh Kornbluth. He's conveniently cast as a character named "Josh Kornbluth" who worked for a very powerful attorney once upon a time.
Introduced like 1950s TV's Mr. Wizard, surprised while carefully threading a projector, the actor takes grave pains to tell us that while he perfectly understands the temptation "to think this is based on the real me, nothing could be further from the truth." In an even more craven attempt to avoid being sued by that very powerful attorney, Kornbluth has even changed the story's locale to "the best place on Earth, San Franclisco." "Haiku Tunnel" (named after a favorite clerical project, typing the endless specs for an engineering project in Hawaii) started as a stand-up monologue Kornbluth developed while living in the Bay Area, "one of thousands of aspiring novelists supporting themselves as temps."
Kornbluth has a wry and telling eye for the minutiae of office life, for the emotional damage of realizing the boss spends more on business trips than your entire childhood cost, for the endless orientation lectures (yes, that's Harry Shearer holding forth on clearing copy machine jams), even for how we fall in love with office supplies. Kornbluth's "own personal weakness" is Uniball micro-pens: "They never explode in your pocket. They just expire one day and so gracefully. They're like the Camille of pens."
"Haiku Tunnel" is characterized by these amusing, open-ended riffs that can start anywhere, from how attorney names differ from secretary names or how exciting our hero found just showing up for temp work: "'Hello, I'm from Uniforce.' Just the name alone filled me with such pride." Until he started to worry that there was a one-to-one ratio between agency and temp, making him literally the uni in Uniforce.
When Josh gets assigned to the law firm of Schuyler & Mitchell (S&M for short), his imagination goes into overdrive. He envisions head secretary Marlina D'Amore (Helen Shumaker) as a Darth Vader figure (a chill wind enters the soundtrack with her) and starts to think of his boss, attorney Bob Shelby (Warren Keith) as the Prince of Darkness, a notion that he finds a goad to work harder: "Just on the off chance he was Satan, you'd want to make a good impression."
After a few days at S&M, however, Josh is faced with the great crisis of any temp's life: the opportunity to "go perm" and have his psychotherapy covered by the film's health plan. Also, his new status would improve his relationship with his trio of fellow office workers: the spirited Mindy (Amy Resnick), the chatty Clifford (Brian Thorstenson) and the distant DaVonne (June Lomena).
Once he makes his decision, however, Josh's careful life crumbles and he ends up facing a variety of crises that start with those 17 un-mailed letters and end up involving high security office buildings patrolled by Rottweilers, the world's oldest office mail boy, and a completely unexpected romance with a very confused Julie Faustino (Sarah Overman).
Coping with all of this brings out the best in Josh the office Galahad and Kornbluth the comic performer. With metal-rimmed glasses and long hair framing a balding scalp, he is a cherubic figure who creates complicity by combining smart timing, a self-possessed delivery and a face that's adept at registering gravity, sadness, delight and more. Light on his feet in an array of Hawaiian shirts, Kornbluth can make anything killingly funny, even the specter of 17 letters, un-mailed but very, very important.
Mick LaSalle, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE:
["Haiku Tunnel" is] a winning comedy about a would-be novelist who is living in a depressive funk and working as an office temporary worker. ... [Josh Kornbluth] is likable, emotionally true and has no trouble carrying a movie. ... He doesn't just recognize the absurdities of office conversation. He knows how to satirize it in a way that the pain underneath also comes through. ... "Haiku Tunnel" should be well received everywhere.
Owen Gleiberman, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:
Remember the name Josh Kornbluth! "Haiku Tunnel" traces, in squirmingly funny detail, the drudge-slave hell of being a temp secretary.
David Germain, ASSOCIATED PRESS:
"Haiku Tunnel" [is] a clever, sometimes hilarious rumination on employment that will resonate with millions of minions tediously toiling in an office. ... "Haiku Tunnel" uses its simple premise to make an entertaining, unpretentious statement about the pros and cons of committing, whether to a career, a relationship or simply cleaning up an unkempt apartment. ... Be sure to visit "Haiku Tunnel" to see Kornbluth, a temp who'll remain permanently etched in your mind.
Joe Morgenstern, WALL STREET JOURNAL:
"Haiku Tunnel" bills itself as "an office comedy," but this winning little wisp of a film is actually about neurotic underachieving and the infantilization of workers, especially temps; it's the office of a malign kindergarten. ... The version of office work that's offered up by "Haiku Tunnel" is as chilling as it is funny. There's a whiff of Samuel Beckett -- a sort of "Krapp's Last Scotch Tape" -- along with cheerful echoes of those charming old Robert Benchley one-reelers from the 1930s. ... Surprisingly entertaining.
Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE:
"Haiku Tunnel" has nothing to do with Japan, poetry or even tunnels. It's an office comedy that hits all the fun stops from giggles to guffaws. ... Josh Kornbluth has adapted his stage monologue into a ragtag charmer that he co-directed with his brother Jacob and co-wrote with his brother and John Bellucci. Josh (think of a young Wallace Shawn) plays himself, an office temp who finds himself traumatized when he goes perm. Suddenly, the bosses, the secretaries, the copiers, the envelope moisteners, the bad lighting and the seventeen letters he forgets to mail all take on the menace of a Kafka nightmare. You will laugh.
J. Hoberman, THE VILLAGE VOICE:
It's evident why [this movie] went over so well at Sundance. "Haiku Tunnel" is an indie inspirational. It's unpretentiously low-tech and humorously offbeat. And against all odds, the filmmaker emerges as a star.
Jan Wahl, KRON-TV (San Francisco):
One of the most original movies I've seen in years! Funny, witty, terrific, clever -- a great tale of the human comedy of errors. Really fun and wonderful. This is a really good film, different and unusual and wonderfully courageous. Four hats!
Jeffrey M. Anderson, SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER:
This movie didn't just remind me of my own nightmare temp days from years ago, but it made me laugh uproariously. I've seen funny films this year, like "Rat Race" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back," but this is the first I've seen whose humor is true and comes from within. It's a spectacular achievement and should not be missed.
Kevin Maynard, MR. SHOWBIZ:
We've seen a lot of movies ("Office Space," "Clockwatchers") attempt to capture the Kafka-esque banality that is corporate hell. But only "Haiku Tunnel" really thumbtacks it -- from the unnerving hum of the fluorescent lighting to the dull, post-work patter. What's more, it does so from a singular, office-minutiae-obsessed point of view. ... This is satire on the giddy level of "The Simpsons" (a comparison made all the more evident by a snarky cameo from Harry Shearer as an orientation leader). ... Anyone who's ever filed, collated, or played Mixmaster DJ with the transcribing machine will find cathartic giggles in this breakout debut.
R.A. Bell, ORLANDO WEEKLY:
A latter-day Modern Times for the technological age! ... In this insightful, class-conscious satire, Kornbluth is a delight in his cross between Buddha, Kafka and Dilbert. Anyone who has ever worked in clerical jobs -- indeed, anyone who has ever worked any sort of mind-numbing job so prevalent in our service-based economy -- will identify with and thoroughly enjoy this splendid comedy.
J. Lyle, AIN'T IT COOL NEWS:
The audience I was with loved every second of this film. Funnier than anything this summer. This is the kind of movie where you actually find yourself wishing that this was a character you knew in real life. ... There is a warmth and innocence throughout that actually takes the viewer by surprise ... which is a rare and welcome trait in any film. I urge everybody to seek this picture out, despite the bizarre title. You'll find it well-worth the price of admission.
Steven Rosen, DENVER POST:
Some people, including me, are referring to the comedy "Haiku Tunnel" as the "Tao of Josh." It stars heavy-set, funny-looking Josh Kornbluth as a neurotic romantic named Josh, who works (poorly) as a San Francisco legal secretary while trying to write a novel. Kornbluth, who co-wrote and co-directed "Haiku" with his brother Jacob, based the film on one of his performance monologues. Witty and original, with a sentimental but unflabby heart of gold. ... I know it's a curse to call nebbishy, confessional, funny guys like Kornbluth "the next Woody Allen," but this has the spirit and zippy sight gags and one-liners of the Woodman's early films.