Working Girl (1988)

i must have seen a different film!!

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

This is Katherine Parker (Sigourney Weaver's) line to her newly hired secretary Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith), who has grown to have a blind faith in her overbearing boss.Tess, whose previous experiences in the workplace have not been at all positive is anxious to accept her position as Katherine's protege, but is about to find out that these poised, sharply dressed, chic, female mentors aren't always what they seem.We meet Tess in what turn out to be the death throws of her previous job working for Lutz & Turkel, two guys whose idea of a joke is setting Tess up for a mock "job interview" with a guy named Bob."This isn't another set up?" Tess asks Lutz on the day before the meeting. "Do I look like a pimp?" Lutz asks. As it turns out Lutz (a terrific Oliver Platt) is a pimp.The meeting with Bob takes place in the back of a limo where Bob (in between snorts of cocaine) lamely keeps up the charade of a job interview for a few seconds before saying:"We'll discuss it at the hotel." "The hotel?"Kevin Spacey was great in this little role. Indeed a great part of the fun of watching this movie is seeing all these talented actors before they became famous.Their work really adds to the story.After spraying Bob with champagne, Tess (in a rage), heads to her office where she fire bombs her position at Lutz & Turkel, and ends up appealing to her employment agent again."Tess...Tess..." the woman says in dismay, "You don't get ahead in this world by calling your boss a pimp. "Well he is."After admonishing her, the employment agent (played by Olympia Dukakis) gives her one last chance.Enter Katherine Parker, a role Sigourney Weaver was spectacular in.The only role I can safely say I liked her better in was as Dr. Helen Hudson in Copycat (and that's probably because I prefer the character).Everyone (including the audience) wants to believe that Tess's stylish new boss is her friend, but it isn't long before the facade wears off, and Katherine's claws start to come out.When Tess comes up with a brainstorm for a business tycoon named Oren Trask (Phillip Bosco) to buy into radio in order to avoid a take over, Katherine promises to give the idea a "go around" to see what happens.The following day, as Tess is helping Katherine into her ski boots, the latter confides her plans to go away for the weekend with boyfriend Jack Trainer whom, she is certain, is about to pop the question."But what if he doesn't?" Tess asks "I really don't think that's a variable. We're in the same city now. I've indicated that I would be receptive to an offer, I've cleared the month of June, and I am, after all...me."She then, mournfully, confesses that Tess's idea was rejected, but encourages her to keep up the good work. The following day, Katherine breaks her leg while doing some over confident skiing (the scene leading up to this is hysterical), and has to ask Tess to watch her house while she convalesces in Aspen.And it's precisely at her boss's house (while listening to her boss's tape recorder) that Tess finds out the truth about her idea:That Katherine was stealing it. That she was about to take it to Trask, using it to boost her own career.That night she goes home to find her boyfriend Mick (Alec Baldwin) in bed with another woman.Her sense of trust shattered, and having no one but her best friend Cynthia (Joan Cusack), Tess decides to take matters into her own hands.She has Cynthia cut her hair, wears Katherine's six thousand dollar evening gown, and goes to a corporate social function to meet Jack Trainer (Harrison Ford, of course), to see if they can team up together to broker a deal with Trask concerning Tess's radio idea.Jack, who never made it to Aspen, and was (we learn later) about to break up with Katherine, is quite taken with Tess whom, he believes, to be a high power executive.Cynthia pretends to be her secretary, and Jack, who was told the previous one was stolen, buys her a new briefcase.The deal goes quite smoothly, and there's even a hysterically funny wedding reception scene which lightens the movie considerably.The trouble comes when Katherine returns unexpectedly, which would be, of course, on the very day they're going to close the deal, and upon finding out her secretary's activities, sets out to destroy Tess, and all her dreams... Including any future with Jack Trainer.Everybody seemed to enjoy making this movie, and everybody was terrific in it.As was the script, the direction by Mike Nichols, and the theme song by Carly Simon.Originally, Review # 12Posted On: June 20, 2009

Back in the eighties this might have been a promotion of female empowerment, but nowadays it is rather bizarre to see all the male chauvinistic work related attitudes pass by as being considered normal. Of course this is a hollywood movie in which stereotypes for comical and dramatic effect get exaggerated, but nowadays hollywood scripts wouldnt sell with this obnoxious male sexist attitude, although to great comical effect Sigourney Weaver is as bad as her male sexist collegues. Back in the eighties it still wasnt very common for women to wanna make a carreer. Not for the majority at least, but this movie tells the succesful story of a normal working girl who made it big time. "Working Girl" is a lovely romanticized picture of an ordinary working girl who started as an ordinary secretary and succeeds in climbing the ladder of corporate america. Lovely role by the ever so charming Melanie Griffith in one of her best roles in her entire carreer. Melanie's charm is to die for. Recently I saw an old Johnny Carson interview with Melanie Griffith, just before "Working Girl" was about to be released. This Carson interview shows us viewers a woman who is truly one heavenly, honest and kind woman in real life, who was to become very famous. I wouldnt mention this if she hadnt played an identical character in this movie also. Art imitating life. Great roles by Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver too, who both play leading parts. But Melanie steals the show!"Working Girl" from the eighties feels a bit dated, looking back now (hilarious hairstyles), but for young women wanting to make a carreer, this movie could really be a wonderful inspiration, although for the male viewers the romantic cliches can feel a bit too sugarcoated...At an trivia endnote I wanna praise the great soundtrack by Carly Simon, who also performed in the soundtrack for another movie about female empowerment called "Postcards from the Edge" also made by the same direcor Mike Nichols. This director has got a brilliant talent for telling true to life feel good stories. "Working Girl" is laden with hollywood cliches, but it is made with so much feel good charm it pleases me every time I see it. Men should think twice before watching it, unless they wanna watch it together with their girlfriend, because as I said before, the only real flaw is that the story is very sugarcoated...

Early in this film secretary Tess McGill has moved to a new job. Her new boss is Katharine Parker, who works in Mergers and Acquisitions at a New York company. She seems friendly and encourages Tess to pitch in with her ideas. Tess does this when she suggests that a firm which is looking to acquire a television station might be better off getting a radio station instead. She is soon told that the company weren't interested but is still complimented for the idea. After Katherine breaks a leg while skiing Tess learns that far from dropping the radio plan Katherine had stolen it. Tess then sets about setting up the deal by contacting investment broker Jack Trainer; of course she doesn't tell him she is 'only' a secretary. All goes fairly well but inevitably Katherine eventually finds out and accuses Tess of stealing the idea. This film is a lot of fun; the plot holds few surprises but that isn't a problem as it isn't the stort of film where one expects twists. Despite only appearing third on the cast list this is definitely Melanie Griffith's film; she is rarely off screen and is a delight as Tess; a character one can't help rooting for. Harrison Ford is on fine form as Jack and Sigourney Weaver impresses as the duplicitous Katharine. The romantic subplots are handled well and don't feel forced; they also provide quite a few laughs. The film has aged pretty well; only the huge '80s hair really dates things! Overall I'd say this may be fairly light weight but it is a lot of fun and well worth watching.

Classic 80s Melanie Griffith movie Working Girl is a very well acted comedy that will entertain. Griffith does a wonderful job with the lead performance, and the supporting cast shines as well. Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, and Joan Cusack are all very good in their roles. I especially enjoyed Cusack and her comical performance as Griffith's's best friend. She has many clever funny lines of dialogue that fit the essence of Joan very well. Weaver turns in a good, believable performance as the boss lady, and Harrison isn't bad? I wouldn't say that his performance is quite to the level of the others, but that certainly doesn't mean he is lackluster. Oh and I almost forgot about Alec Baldwin, he is a supporting character here too, one of his earliest roles. The writing is pretty good, it's comical the majority of the film, with occasional scenes that are serious. The film is very 80s, hopefully you know what I mean when I say that. Complete with many 80s pop culture references, the style of the clothes (especially Joan Cusack), and music filled sequences, meaning the nude vacuuming. I think that if you are a fan of movies from the 1980s, and of the cast members, then you'll enjoy this film. 7/10.