Clockwatchers

Parker Posey could make counting pencils entertaining, as she proves in this funny-sad comedy about temp workers surviving at the bottom of the corporate food chain. But while Posey's rebel gets most of the laughs, she's just one of four actresses playing women in limbo. Lisa Kudrow, as a ''performer'' who never gets any parts and Alanna Ubach, who's only working until her upcoming wedding to a jerk, take turns seeming the most poignantly hopeless. Empathy finally goes to Toni Collette, as the shy new girl, who finds acceptance in this band of office outsiders. The throwaway bits in Clockwatchers are so perfect — like Posey's put-down of a happy-hour pick-up artist — that it's a pleasure to be able to rewind and watch again. A-

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