Labor Day: Films about the Working World by Women Filmmakers

Jill and Karen Sprecher first attracted attention with Clockwatchers, their 1997 feature about four temps on the bot- tom rung of an enormous corporation. In 2001, they released 13 Conversations About One Thing, a film with many of the same themes, but broader and deeper. The sisters share screenwriting credits on both films, with Jill named director.

The anchor of 13 Conversations is Gene, a middle-aged, middle-manager in a large Manhattan insurance company. Gene – exquisitely played by Alan Arkin – is a divorced workaholic, and loneliness is slowly corroding all his interactions. One night he meets Troy (Matthew McConaughey). Their casual bar stool conversation marks a turning point in both lives. When Troy leaves the bar, he has a tragic encounter with Beatrice (Clea DuVall), but when Gene leaves the bar, he has a brief encounter with Patricia (Amy Irving) which, though wordless, is filled with redemptive beauty.

Beatrice is a house-cleaner, Troy is an attorney, Patricia is the wife of a University professor. Just like Gene, all three are initially defined by the jobs that they do. But the filmmakers weave their stories together in profound ways, so that, by the end, we know we have peeked into the lives of indelible individuals.

13 Conversations is a wonderful film, but it’s serious and pensive. Beauty Shop, on the other hand, is pure fun. Gina, the Queen Latifah character from Barbershop 2, leaves Chicago and moves to Atlanta in search of a fresh start. She lands in an uptown salon owned by a martinet named “Jorge” (played with broad comic zest by Kevin Bacon), but quickly rebels, and then earns his full enmity by opening a rival shop in the ‘hood.