The Secret of My Success
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Movie Reviews of The Secret of My Success
Movie Review: "The Sexual Revolution is over, everyone out of bed!!!"
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of my favorite 80's movies (amongist others). It has it all: great actors (Richard Jordan, Michael J. Fox, Margaret Whitton, Fred Gwynne and Helen Slater), comedy, romance, action, and a great soundtrack.
Michael J. Fox plays Brantley Foster who lives on a farm with his parents in Kansas. Brantley looks to succeed and starts right at the top of the difficulty scale...Manhattan. You know the old saying, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. Same thing goes for teaching, within the suburbs they tell you to get expierence in the NYC schools first. But don't believe what you hear, it's definately not bad at all. Anyway, Brantley gets fired on the first day he reports to his job and follows that up with rejections when he applies for others. He then goes as a last resort to his Uncle Howard who is CEO of Pembroke. Brantley starts in the mailroom and cooks up a plan to reach as high as he can...so he can be able to fly back to his parents house in the corporate jet and be able to afford that lovely penthouse he has, just kidding. You have to see and "hear" his apartment for yourself. It's hillarious!
Trouble arises: Enter Donald Davenport (Fred Gwynne) and a hostile company takeover. Brantley who goes by the name of Carlton Whitfield when he's a "suit" also finds the girl of his dreams in Christy (Helen Slater, who also is not related to Christian Slater FYI); a whiz kid on money matters. Brantley's boss in the mailroom is also suspecting something is up and have an evil eye on him. Carlton/Brantley also have to look out for Uncle Howard but his biggest challenge is to tame his Aunt Vera (Margaret Whitton from Major League) who has taken a 'special liking" to him.
All of this adds to tremendous laughs almost every minute. The ending at Uncle Howard's house is great fun and non-stop laughs along with that famous song (So beautiful--with the great sound effects) from Feris Bueller's Day Off (great movie also). The soundtrack includes Night Ranger's The Secret of My Success and Roger Daltrey's The Price of Love. If you like the music from the 80's, you'll like these songs as well as the soundtrack. It would be nice to have a DVD that has the soundtrack included. For example, the James Bond movies have the music video for that particular movie. Don't mind my minor knit-picking; this is a great movie and for anyone who enjoys comedies then this is a definate for your movie collection.
To sum it up, can Carlton/Brantley outwit his Uncle Howard, tame the wild beast aka his Aunt, and make it to the top?
Movie Review: The $ecret$ to this above average 80's comedy.
Summary: 5 Stars
1. A great lead actor: Michael J. Fox in the prime of his career, really drives this film, and makes it as enjoyable as it could possibly get. I doubt any other actor of the time could have pulled this one off. He plays someone trying to be the yuppie that Alex P. Keaton strived to be in the hit TV show Family Ties.
2. Excellent supporting cast: Robert Jordan and Margaret Whitton as Fox's uncle and aunt by marriage; and a good sidekick: John Pankow (Ira in TV's Mad About You) as Fox's mailroom, lowest on the office totem pole counterpart, who played off Fox very well. I did find Helen Slater to be a little cold.
3. Euro chic cinematography: With Carlo Di Palma (Blow-Up, The Appointment, Hannah & Her Sisters) on board, the look of this film was several notches above other similar films of the timeframe. Just look at some of the interesting shots in the film, including a scene where you see Robert Jordan in the mirror of a restaurant, while he's talking to Helen Slater with his back to the camera. Little stylish elements like this really make it an enjoyable rewatch in the present day.
This one never went overboard with the sexual antics, and remained very innocent compared to the huge lot of other 80's R-rated romps. It was also a few years ahead of just about every other teen film of the day, and I mean it in the sense that everyone else was in High School, while here we have a young man's journey on a career path after college. This would also make it appealing to young adults who were otherwise too old for the John Hughes type movies.
The DVD is definitely worth adding to your 80's film collection, especially considering it's low price. The extras are the trailer, cast bios, and some production notes. Presentation is widscreen and the picture quality is high.
Some say it was very contrived, and I can't dispute that, but surely you can't overlook the entertainment value of this rather unique, yuppie, 80's gem. A film truly tailored for the 80's MJF.
Movie Review: Michael Fox Gives You a Two Hour Smile
Summary: 5 Stars
1987's 'The Secret of my Success' was looked at by producers and possibly Mike himself as just another way to keep himself busy and broaden his fame while in the 'Family Ties' era. But 'The Secret of My Success' exploded when Michael J. Fox's talent wasnt the sole shining star of the movie..providing a great supporting cast of huge actors like Maggie Whitton, who played Fox's sensuous aunt Vera. Michael J. Fox comes to New York from a small country farm where his parents live, to give a familiar story of determination to succeed in a city that still rings true: "If I Can Make It There....." Fox gets one foot in the door of a major corporation when his jerk uncle Howard Prescott decides to hire him in the mail room. The movie is perfect for Mike, whos' tremendous acting talent lends itself well to a young boy who works his way up the ladder of a multi-national corporation headed by a creep, and on the verge of overturning. I make it sound too dark though...the movie is non-stop laughs and an uplifting story that really does put a permanant smile on your face. Along with the greatest soundtrack Ive ever heard, which if youre buying this movie you HAVE to get the CD too, with all original songs and scores by performers like Pat Benatar, Night Ranger, David Foster, and Restless Heart. I can tell you right now if you've ever watched an episode of 'Family Ties', ever saw 'Back To the Future' 5 or 6 times in the last 4 years on tv or loved Fox's reign on 'Spin City'...this movie is perfect for you. A fast-paced, hilarious, energetic and cheerful movie that's great for the whole family. It deffinately gives us one of the many great things to remember about our friend.Movie Review: A Comedy With A Conscience!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Secret Of My Success shows what someone with a backbone could accomplish under the most difficult of circumstances. What the Mathew J. Fox character tries to prevent in the film actually happened in real life to my father's multi-billion dollar corporation back in the 1980's! As a result, he, and tens of thousands of other people lost their jobs! Too bad they didn't have someone like the Michael J. Fox character attending their boardroom meetings! It might of saved a lot of people much grief!
Beside the interesting story, the chemistry between the actors is fantastic! The soundtrack was one of the very few that's memorable. The sexual situations were plentiful and quite humorous! Parts of Connecticut look exactly like they were portrayed in the film! (Yes, there is a lot of mind-boggling wealth hidden down secluded country roads!) The Secret Of My Success is definitely a home run, and one of my all-time favorite comedies!
See: Hostile Takeover: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government--And How We Take It Back and Knights, Raiders, and Targets: The Impact of the Hostile Takeover
Movie Review: So funny that it sounds incredible
Summary: 5 Stars
Many strange people come from Kansas and all of them are dreamers like Dorothea. And the way to success is paved with yellow bricks. In this film the dream comes true and the means used to do so are standard in business. One share of women, using them and being used by them. One share of good sound logic and practical intelligence. One share of pure righteous and deserved brutality with the higher-ups who are so narrow minded and egotistic that they don't even see their personal interest. One share of a well developed sniffing device known has a nose that is the intuition of a dog but also the best sanity of a man. And you get to the top. Just use the elevator please and don't get it stuck accidentally on purpose because plenty of people are expecting to use it. And you have the secret of success for a comedy that is nothing but an American Psycho in Hell's Kitchen turned into an unrestricted American Dreamo in Heaven's Dining-room. Very good, very fast, very dynamic, quite convincingly absurd and absurdly funny. Just what we need when we look at the stock exchange and think subprime.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines