Easily the most stylistically original and distinctive film on the competition side of the aisle, Lisa Kotin and Johnny White’s “Temporary Girl” is a goofy
and refreshing comedy that not only asks if there’s a Statute of Limitations on dreams, but examines the occasional incompatibility of those dreams with the lives of those who hold them dear.
All this in a film about Jeanette, a fourteen year “temporary” worker who spends her days on the job dodging the boss and her annoying co-workers long enough to xerox head shots, sweeten her acting resume on the company computer, make tape dubs in the basement A/V center, etc. So intent is Jeanette on pushing her struggling performance career, that she’s jeopardizing her marriage to a husband who’s already realized he’s never
going to “make it” as a rock star. While hubby has settled into a managerial job at a record store and now desperately wants kids, Jeanette
still stubbornly and obsessively chases her big break.
Writer Lisa Kotin was born, it seems, to play the harried and frazzled Jeanette, while the film, with several undercranked scenes and gaudy, in-your-face art direction, is a visual treat from the brilliantly animated opening credits on.
“Temporary Girl” is definitely on the raw side with a slightly amateurish feel and Jeanette’s co-workers are all merely one dimensional caricatures. But it is good fun and the ironic “careful what you wish for” ending was a perfect finale.
