Another Droll Day at the Office

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 Franslisco.”

“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.

MPAA rating: R, for language and some sexuality. Times guidelines: The humor is more literate than graphic..

‘Haiku Tunnel’

Josh Kornbluth: “Josh Kornbluth”

Warren Keith: Bob Shelby

Helen Shumaker: Marlina D’Amore

Amy Resnick: Mindy

Brian Thorstenson: Clifford

June Lomena: DaVonne

Julie Faustino: Sarah Overman

Harry Shearer: Orientation leader

A Kornbluth Brothers film, released by Sony Pictures Classics. Directors Jacob Kornbluth, Josh Kornbluth. Producers Brian Benson, Jacob Kornbluth, Josh Kornbluth. Executive producer David R. Fuchs. Screenplay Josh Kornbluth & Jacob Kornbluth. Cinematographer Don Matthew Smith. Editor Robin Lee. Costumes Chris Aysta. Music Marco d’Ambrosio. Production design Chris Farmer. Running time: 1 hour, 32 minutes.

In limited release