Haiku Tunnel (2001)
Written, Directed by, and Starring: Josh Kornbluth
Review written by: Joshua Taj Bozeman on July 3, 2003 at 12:33 A.M.
CT.
Haiku Tunnel is an odd little movie starring a very odd little man named Josh...playing a character named Josh. It's always nice when it works like this. Josh and his brother Jacob both co-wrote and directed this film that I think won awards at Sundance. It's clear that this movie is independent...it has that look, but it doesn't take away from it at all. It's not poorly made with cheap film or anything, but it's still clearly a somewhat inexpensive movie.
I see that many people have compared this movie to Office Space, but I see very few similarities. They don't even fit in the same genre (or maybe sub-genre) if you ask me. This film is much more quirky and offbeat than Office Space, and outside of the basic office setting, the plots are completely different.
I saw this DVD in the racks at my local library and decided to pick it up, because, from the dvd box, it looked interesting. I put the movie in, and I started feeling that maybe it was a mistake to get the film...the overlong scenes where Josh speaks to the camera as the director of the film get somewhat annoying, but luckily there aren't TOO many of these...and sometimes he actually has some very funny lines in these scenes. After ten minutes, you get into the movie more, and I felt like all would turn out well. It does and it doesn't. The film drags a bit in places, but overall it's wonderfully made, and tho Josh is the last person you would see as a great main character, he pulls it off nicely. He seems strange, and it's sometimes hard to see yourself in him, but when you think about it, most of us can see parts of ourselves in him.
The plot- Josh plays an office temp. who is constantly going from job to job...clearly phobic of becoming a permanent employee for any company. We learn that he's clearly an oddball...not like everyone around him, a decent worker, and someone who knows the office world inside and out. He knows all the different types of people who work in offices...the way these different people interact, and how he can make himself at home in most of his jobs.
Josh starts temping as a secretary for some big shot attorney, and they soon ask him to go "perm." He doesn't want to, but the supervisor of the secretaries talks him into it. Things are going well for a while...he's getting all his work done, and he's not running into any big problems. We hear about his ex, a woman named Helen...he doesn't tell us too much, and honestly, I can't even remember why he said they broke up. Clearly it's not too memorable...and they never show this Helen character, so it's not really any big deal.
We meet the other secretaries in the office..some weird people that almost make Josh look normal. They don't say a word to him when he starts out, but when he says he'll go "perm," they all immediately welcome him with open arms as one of their own.
Josh has 17 VERY important letters that he has to dictate and mail out for his boss...right away. This is the basis of the story. The letters. Josh constantly procrastinates and never seems to get to typing of the important letters...which puts his position in jeopardy. He has to mail them or quit his job or be fired...his character is drawn out in such a way that I really don't know what his motivation is. He tells us that he's a writer at heart and spends time at work writing his novel...but, it's really not clear what he wants in his current job or if he's even THAT worried about being fired.
I'll leave the plot by saying that his co-workers try to help him get the letters typed up and mailed out. It's all very simplistic, but it's funny and entertaining all the same.
The direction is standard...I really didn't notice anything that stood out as unique, besides the fact that Josh took time out every now and then to talk to us (the audience) about the film and his actions...and there are a few flashback scenes of Josh on other jobs. It all has a very professional look.
Haiku Tunnel is very funny, and I think that Kornbluth has talent...as a writer and an actor. He's not your usual leading man, but he's got a lot of charisma that goes far...especially in roles like this. You can tell that this is one of his first roles (I think?) because he seems a bit rough at times...but he's good in general. No complaints on his acting or any of the other actors in the movie. As I said before, some parts of the film drag out, and, while never going over the line, the talking to the camera stuff sits on the very edge of annoying, but in the end, Haiku Tunnel is funny, quirky, and just a lot of fun. It's a simple story told by interesting characters, and that's good enough for me.