Clocking the T

Clocking the T is a hip, fresh romantic comedy from director/co-writer Michael Thibault. Candace (Jana Nawartschi) works in HR for a blood lab. Dave (Ben Hicks) is a social media astro-turfer. He and associates spend their days spinning comments on products and media as online ninjas trying to push public opinion in the direction they are paid to. Essentially, he’s a professional douchebag. When they meet on a dating site, the opposite of sparks flying occurs, they’re extinguished. Yet, they find each other attractive and go a few rounds dating, eventually settling into a grudging situationship they both feel is flawed but find it better than being alone.

Candace is a successful adult with a dark secret, where Dave is a manchild who is primarily looking for a mother-substitute that he can have sex with, and who will do his dishes. She deals with extreme, emotionally unstable managers at her corporate job that push her to fire people for ridiculous reasons. He is constantly on his phone, trying to post 500 comments per day under a deal he made to promote a film. The viewer goes on a rollercoaster ride with these two as they give “love” a try.

“…settling into a grudging situationship they both feel is flawed but find it better than being alone.“

Cinematically, Thibault hits his marks with grace and style. The shots are beautifully composed, and the soundtrack works well. Nawartschi and Hicks are attractive young actors who turn in top notch performances. Clocking the T is an easy film on the eyes, and the production is quality all around. It does run a bit long… more than 90 minutes for a rom com is a big ask, and it drags at times. Those familiar with High Fidelity may find some parallels, but the characters here aren’t nearly as charming. About the title: apparently this is slang meaning “reveal the juicy gossip secrets.” It is embarrassing to have to translate, but I had to look it up, so if you already knew that, please accept my apologies. If you didn’t, then you are probably not of the generation depicted in the film.

This next note may also be generational bias, as this reviewer is gray at the temples where the characters are young and lively, but the narcissism and wildly unrealistic expectations of these people looking for love (or sex?) on the internet is frustrating. Given the combination of Candace’s (entirely reasonable) mistrust of guys her age because she’s been burned so many times, and Dave’s insistent refusal to become an adult man, it’s clear that finding an overlapping narrow band of happiness between these two is going to be a nearly impossible challenge. The Venn diagram may not intersect.

This is an unromantic romantic comedy, not to put too fine a point on it. To say it another way: Clocking the T is a good movie about not-so-great people. By the time the credits roll we’ve learned more than we ‘d care to about them. To be fair, the characters are written with extreme authenticity and are closer to real people than usual in a story like this one. Your friends are probably something like Dave and Candace, but you just don’t know all these things about them. It’s best that way, trust me. If you see something of yourself in these flawed characters (and we all will), then Clocking the T may bring you some comfort that you’re not alone in this, and that there may be some hope.