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Working Girl (1988)

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84 comments in total

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26 out of 33 people found the following comment useful :-
The best come-uppance story ever!, 14 April 2001

Author: budmassey (cyberbarrister@gmail.com) from Indianapolis, IN

You know you've had a boss like this. Someone who stole your ideas, used you to advance their career, and did everything to keep you from getting the credit you deserve. I think of him every time I watch this movie, and although he got his come-uppance, as such people usually do, this one is still more satisfying.

Griffith is a little annoying as the giggly secretary with ambition, but it works. Weaver is the greatest comedic villain since Cruella DeVille. You know she's going to fall, and she does in more ways than one. While she's mending broken bones from a ski trip, her secretary finds a memo capitalizing on her idea the boss had pooh-poohed as a "secretary's notion."

In her boss's absence, Tess (Griffith) uses her boss's name, her office, her home, even her clothes, to break into the rarefied New York mergers and acquisitions world. She even falls for the boss's boyfriend.

Alas, the boss is a fast healer and comes home early. She finds an entry in her secretary's day planner, and it hits the fan.

It's hard to believe this gem was written by the same writer who inflicted Meet Joe Black on us, but we can forgive him. Harrison Ford is at the top of his game as the boyfriend, but Joan Cusack almost walks away with this one, as usual. Joan is the best comedic supporting actress around.

Weaver has one of the the greatest one-liners of all time. When asked if she's sure her boyfriend will propose, she says "We're in the same city now. I've indicated I'm receptive to an offer. I've cleared the month of June. And I am, after all, me."

The go-go 80's may be long gone, along with the power suits, the BIG hair, the Perrier, and the bull market, but this hilarious and heartwarming comedy still works without relying on nostalgia or sentiment!

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20 out of 28 people found the following comment useful :-
A dated but enjoyable satire, 25 March 1999
Author: Chris Regan (tcr@bu.edu) from Boston

Watching Working Girl ten years after its release, it's hard not to dismiss it as a dated satire of the corporate world of the 1980's. At the same time, that's part of the movie's charm. Even though ten years has made the costumes, hair, and production design irritating, the charm and intelligence of Mike Nichols' Cinderella story still shine through. As does the quality of the performances, which are also revealing a decade later. Harrison Ford makes a perfectly likable romantic lead while Alec Baldwin and Kevin Spacey offer amusingly smarmy comic performances. But the actresses walk away with the movie. Joan Cusack is hilarious in a scene-stealing turn as a Staten Island secretary, and Sigourney Weaver is great as a shrewd and conniving career woman. The brilliance of Weaver's performance is how slyly and genuinely she plays her villianous character, often decieving the audience as she decieves the characters in the movie. And finally there is Melanie Griffith who gave a star-is-born performance as the big-haired secretary who falls in love with Ford's merger specialist and smartly climbs her way up the corporate ladder after Weaver stabs her in the back. Griffith earned an Oscar nod for this performance (as did Cusack and Weaver for theirs) and it's a testament to how funny, sexy, and wonderful she is in the part that even after numerous flops and odd career moves, she's still a well-known movie star ten years later (For an opposite side at this scenario look at Jennifer Beals in Flashdance or Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing, both of whom became big stars and then fell off the face of the earth). Nichols' direction is smart, as is Kevin Wade's clever screenplay, and the light and funny romantic comedy leads up to a surprisingly suspenseful and enormously satisfying climax. All-in-all, a satisfying and amusing entertainment.

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9 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Bright, feel-good comedy..., 10 September 2007

Author: niborskaya from NYC

I've been watching this movie every now and again for almost 20 years (ye gads!), and it's always entertaining. Tonight, I noticed how effective and subtle an actress Melanie Griffith can be when she's directed well. She's a real jewel in this film. Sweet, sexy, smart with a "brain for business and a bod for sin". Mike Nichols clearly loved filming her. Her expressions are priceless. Watch for the wonderful scene when Harrison Ford and she are walking to the elevator and he's asking her out. That face of hers as the elevator doors close is just heavenly. That's Mike Nichols craft/artistry.

Sigourney Weaver also does a masterful job as a two-faced shark business woman. What's so wonderful about her character, the writing, is that Katherine doesn't have a conscience. She's crafty and slick and manipulative, but she's not out to hurt anyone, just put herself first. It's too bad if anyone get's in her way. She's not nasty, but there is no question that she is the most important person in the universe. It's interesting, too, how her duplicity is reflected in her wardrobe. Most of the professional women in the movie are dressed in ultra-conservative boxy business attire, but Katherine/Sigourney dresses sophisticatedly and elegantly. She knows how to play both sides, the professional yet still sexy professional. She's so powerful in herself that she doesn't feel like she has to dress like a man just because she's in a male- dominated career (mergers/acquisitions). yes, she's a monster/ogre, but as she states, "This is BUSINESS".

Harrison Ford is his usual witty, slightly befuddled nice guy. He's the James Stewart of the baby boomer generation.

Joan Cusack is a phenomenon with her iridescent eye-shadow and Bozo hairdo. I think has the funniest line in the movie-a warning to Tess: "You know, sometimes I sing and dance around the apartment in my underwear. Doesn't make me Madonna....never will". that's rich.

Look for Ricki Lake at the wedding.

I put this movie in the same category as Moonstruck, Educating Rita, Shirley Valentine. Transformation movies. I suppose you could call them modern day Cinderella Stories, but it's more about the women saving themselves as opposed to waiting for Prince Charming.

It's a pleasure to see this movie. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

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10 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Coffee, Tea, Me?, 10 July 2000

Author: Boyo-2

With a cast that includes Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, Alec Baldwin, Oliver Platt and Kevin Spacey, its a minor miracle Joan Cusack got any attention at all. But she did get attention, and a well-deserved Oscar nomination. She is completely hysterical and is one of the best reasons to see this fairy tale set against the big bad world of Wall Street. Her best scene is when she masquerades as Melanie's secretary and makes an offer to Harrison "Coffee, Tea, Me"?

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Wonderful, fun, feel good comeuppance tale, 2 April 2006

Author: roghache from Canada

This is a fabulous movie. Maybe not rocket science, but clever enough! It has an engaging plot, an extremely empathetic heroine, a villainous boss, a cheatin' boyfriend, and a handsome new love interest just stepping into the picture. Get your popcorn ready for the comeuppance story of a lifetime.

The tale revolves around a smart secretary named Tess McGill, who wants to get ahead in the Big Apple but is beaten down by her nasty boss, Katherine, who steals her ideas and passes them off as her own. Fortune smiles on Tess when Katherine breaks her leg during a skiing holiday and Tess is able to 'take charge'...that is, until her boss, who recovers all too quickly, returns. Of course there is also a romance brewing here in the form of a handsome investment banker named Jack Trainer, who just happens to be her boss's boyfriend.

Harrison Ford is his typical dashing, magnetic self in the role of Jack Trainer, but it is the two ladies that make this movie. Signourey Weaver is absolutely villainous as an employee's 'worst nightmare' boss, a lady (no, not a lady) high up the corporate ladder, but lacking any semblance of integrity or kindness toward anyone below her in that ladder. You will be itching to see this nasty snob get her comeuppance.

Above all, Melanie Griffith is brilliant in the role of Tess, every viewer's favorite downtrodden secretary. She's a woman with all the intelligence and skills needed to succeed in the corporate world, but is ill used by those above her who put her down. Many employees out there will identify with Tess, having at some point in their lives been ill treated by a boss, whether male or female, with at least shades of Katherine. Furthermore, Tess will surely gain viewer sympathy regarding her unfortunate experiences with her sleazy live in lover, Mick.

The scene featuring the Staten Island ferry is beautifully done, accompanied as it is by Carly Simon's wonderful Oscar winning song, 'Let the River Run'. What an amazing voice! This is really a fantastic, fun movie. You can't help but love it.

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8 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Brilliant film comedy (warning: spoilers below), 27 August 2002
Author: Alain English from London, England

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Right from the opening burst of Carly Simon's magnificent theme song, the audience is taken on a fairy-tale comedy ride with one working-class girl and her striving to get ahead in the competitive business world of New York's money market.

Tess McGill (Melanie Griffiths) is a Staten Island Secretary working for a pair of sleazy bosses in an uptown New York shares company. Never once taking her astute business ideas seriously, they set her up with what she thinks is a job opportunity, but is really an opportunity for a lecherous colleague (a then unknown Kevin Spacey) to try and sleep with her.

Angry, she publicly humiliates them and is fired but a sympathetic Personnel Director (Olympia Dukakis) puts her to work for a female boss Katherine Parker(Sigourney Weaver), who works in Mergers and Acquisitions. Although apparently helpful and sincere, Tess discovers her new boss has been stealing some of her ideas and claiming them as her own. When her boss is injured in a skiing accident, Tess takes over her office and sets about putting together a deal with one of her own ideas........

The acting is excellent on all fronts in this picture. Melanie Griffiths imbues her character with an increasingly confident but very genuine charm. Sigourney Weaver is perfect is her stuck-up, patronising superbitch of a boss. Harrison Ford is also on form here as the man in both their lives, a charming yet almost stuffy man who constantly fears losing his job. Odd, however, that he should receive top billing when he only appears about half-way through the film.

The three leads are given tremendous support in the form of Joan Cusack as Tess's best friend who fears she is getting left behind in the wave of her friend's ambition. Other notable players include Nora Dunn as Katherine's snooty colleague and Philip Bosco as an industry tycoon, who gets the film's funniest line at the film's satisfying finale.

The script by Kevin Wade is excellent, with plenty of funny one-liners and double-entendres. His portrayal of office life may seem a little bit too romantic at times, in spite of the rich business detail with which he imbues it, but this a comedy so this is entirely forgivable.

The whole movie is wonderfully accentuated by a rousing score. Carly Simon's theme tune beautifully captures the film's themes of hope, ambition and fair play.

Enjoyable and exhilarating comedy.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
One of my favorite comedies is sweet and funny., 7 November 1999

Author: bob canning from sonoma county, ca

How can you go wrong with this delightful comedy? Besides having a great cast headed by Melanie Griffith, there's Harrison Ford (in one of the rare romantic comedies that suits his talents), Sigourney Weaver and wonderful Joan Cusack. And Olympia Dukakis, Alec Baldwin and Kevin Spacey are in it too (don't blink)! A great musical score and Oscar winning song by Carly Simon, all directed by Mike Nichols, I give this two thumbs up, and a 10!

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Delightful uplifting tale for any decade., 4 March 2008

Author: SergeantDudfoot from United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Firstly let me say that I'm stunned at the mediocre rating this film has on this site, secondly I disagree with those users who say the film is too 80s and hasn't aged well because it's central theme fits into any time frame, it is in fact universal in life.

On the surface the film appears to only operate purely as a romantic feel good movie, but scratch away the surface and you find that a great deal of intelligence is coursing thru the veins of this Mike Nichols effort. Dealing with the harshness of trying to get on in the world of business, I found that the film is saying that grit and determination can get you breaks if you have the brains to seize the opportunity, be strong and maybe you can prosper, now it may not always be the case that such endeavours are rewarded, but at least you can say you tried.

A never better Melanie Grifith plays Tess McGill with much heart and passion, and I'm sure that is in no small part down to the adroit people skills that director Mike Nicholls obviously has. Sigourney Weaver & Joan Cusack are equally impressive, with Weaver seeming to relish the role of dastardly boss woman Katharine Parker, whilst Harrison Ford is simply spot on as the love interest with the smart business acumen helping Tess in her quest to make it in the often harsh world of business.

A film with appeal for both sexes, and this particular macho viewer punched the air at the end in appreciation for a fitting finale, good work all round here, 8/10.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Who's afraid of Sigourney Weaver?, 28 April 2003
Author: Dennis Littrell (dalittrell@yahoo.com) from SoCal

Working girl Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith, sporting some serious hair) is continuously being mistaken for a "coffee, tea or me?" kind of person when in fact she works hard, reads widely and studies nights to get ahead in the business world. But the sexist, class-conscious business world just won't take her seriously. Finally she hooks up with Katherine Parker (Sigourney Weaver), a successful but vulturous deal-maker with an elevated opinion of herself who knows how to use people. They set up a mentor relationship with Tess getting the coffee and Katherine spouting the words of wisdom. When Tess comes up with a good business idea, Katherine steals it.

Enter soon after Jack Trainer (Harrison Ford) and we have our triangle. Katherine has broken her leg skiing and Tess has to fill in for her. When Tess discovers that Katherine has ripped off her idea, she decides to assume Katherine's accouterments, including her lavish apartment, her wardrobe, her hairstyle, and as it turns out, her boyfriend. Will she succeed, and will she find true love and happiness with the leading man? Inquiring minds want to know.

Director Mike Nichols, auteur of a number of film land successes of more than average sophistication, including Postcards from the Edge (1990), The Graduate (1967), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966), etc. with help from screen writer Kevin Wade and Melanie herself, manages to create enough sympathy for Tess that we want her to win. Sigourney Weaver does such a fine job of being a kind of sociopathic villainess that we want her to lose. Guess what happens?

While this is not on the same level as the three Mike Nichols flicks mentioned above, either in terms of cinematic significance or craftsmanship, it is clever and witty at times, and the story is one that most American women will find easy to identify with. And of course the winner gets Harrison Ford, displaying his usual bodice-busting charm. Only problem (aside from some smarmy pandering to a chick flick audience) is that the chemistry between Melanie Griffith and Harrison Ford is lacking.

See this for Mike Nichols whose direction here can be described as just a working guy trying to make a buck and not doing a bad job of it.

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Working Girl, 25 May 2008

Author: Jackson Booth-Millard from United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

From Oscar and Golden Globe nominated director Mike Nichols (The Graduate, The Birdcage, Closer), this is quite an interesting comedy film looking at how feminism can affect the work place. Basically Tess McGill (Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated Melanie Griffith) becomes a secretary/personal assistant for Katharine Parker (Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated Sigourney Weaver), but when Katharine breaks her leg while on a work trip/vacation (whichever) Tess takes over her business. While doing this she is bossed about quite a lot by Weaver (on the phone, and eventually when she gets back), and she meets and falls for broker Jack Trainer (Harrison Ford). In the process of having this relationship, Tess climbs the corporate ladder to success, and in the end, Katharine is seen as the bitch she is by her superior, and Tess gets a proper job with her own secretary and office. Also starring Alec Baldwin as Mick Dugan, Oscar nominated Joan Cusack as Cyn, Philip Bosco as Oren Trask, Nora Dunn as Ginny, Funny Bones' Oliver Platt as Lutz, James Lally as Turkel, young Kevin Spacey as Bob Speck, Robert Easton as Armbrister, Olympia Dukakis as Personnel Director, Amy Aquino as Alice Baxter, Jeffrey Nordling as Tim Rourke, Elizabeth Whitcraft as Doreen DiMucci, Zach Grenier as Jim, Lee Dalton as John Romano, Barbara Garrick as Phyllis Trask, Madolin B. Archer as Barbara Trask and David Duchovny as Tess's Birthday Party Friend. It didn't make me laugh that much in many places, and there were a few moments where I lost track of what was going on, but the performances are good, and you do root for Griffith's character. It won the nominated the Oscar for Best Picture, it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Original Film Score for singer Carly Simon, and it won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical, Best Original Song (together with "Two Hearts" from Buster (1988)), and it was nominated for Best Screenplay. Carly Simon's Oscar winning "Let The River Run" was number 91 on 100 Years, 100 Songs, the film was number 91 on 100 Years, 100 Passions, and it was number 87 on 100 Years, 100 Cheers. Very good!

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