That Josh Kornbluth is a cross between the young Zero Mostel and the not-so-young Woody Allen. He is the epitome of the schlemiel, which makes me realize that if you're Jewish, you will find it hilarious, but if you're a WASP (like my wife) you won't think it's funny, but sad. The poor guy... he needs help. That's why this permanent 'temp' becames tempted to 'perm.' He'll take a permanent job because the law firm will cover his psychotherapy. He's desperately in need of psychotherapy, and he seems to know it, but there's no indication he's in it, except that he's prone to free-associate, and so his unconscious spills onto he screen and into your lap, which gives the viewer mixed feelings. He talks to the audience, he has fantasies, he gets back to the plot, and new characters come on. The funniest is when he starts lying to a paralegal and she is so enchanted in his story that he's a full-time tax attorney who writes novels on the side. This is very similar to a recent New Yorker short story, which I think is by the same guy. He milks the situation of lying in order to get a gal in bed, and then guilt and inability to keep up the lies, and get kicked out of bed. It is clear he would rather sleep than screw, which indicates his need for therapy, one of these chronic lowgrade depressions that don't respond to Prozac or Paxil.
Review of Haiku Tunnel
