Working Girl
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Movie Reviews of Working Girl
Movie Review: A New Jerusalem?
Summary: 4 Stars
The opening of WORKING GIRL set to the strains of Carly Simon's "Let the River Flow" is still powerful 14 years after its release in 1988. And WORKING GIRL is still a fun and satisfying film about Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith), a working class girl who is trying to realize the American dream. I liked the film back in 1988, and I still like it in 2002, though I now find I have some reservations about the basic premises of the film.But let's start with the strengths. Mike Nichol's film is well-crafted from top to bottom. The screenplay moves along briskly to a satisfying conclusion, as Tess overcomes both prejudice and a deceitful boss in order to realize her ambition of becoming a real business executive. The acting is top-notch across the board. Griffith gave a career performance in this film -- letting us see both the vulnerability and the underlying grit of her character. In the real world, people in her situation are not likely to achieve what Tess achieves, and Griffith shows how frightening Tess' quest would be to someone who didn't know she was in a movie ... Her radiant performance is the heart of the film, but she is well-supported by Harrison Ford (as the not-as-cocky-as-he-seems love interest) and Sigourney Weaver (as the boss from hell). Along the way we catch a lot of famous actors before they hit it big: Kevin Spacey, Oliver Platt, Alex Baldwin, and David Duchovny. Especially memorable is Joan Cusack, who plays Tess' friend, and who manages to steal every scene in which she appears. All of the actors look like they had a blast working on this project.
It's impossible not to like WORKING GIRL, but I do have to pause at the underlying values celebrated in the film. First, even as the film sympathetically documents the obstacles that can impede the ambition of talented people born in the working class, it still assumes that being in the working class is somehow a "failure." The film never questions Griffith's desire to become a member of the executive class, even as she realizes the levels of deceit and treachery that often exist there. We get no sense that one might find a rich and satisfying life as a secretary, and by making that assumption we are forced to buy into the very class differences the film seems to be critiquing.
The film is a celebration of success American-style, which is particularly ironic coming from Mike Nichols, who first made his mark as the director of THE GRADUATE, which indicted the American notion of "success" as being ultimately empty and soul-stealing... Where did all that idealism go? I think Carly Simon's Oscar-winning song gives us one clue - it is a hymn to the New Jerusalem. Perhaps the baby boomers' youthful rejection of the "system" could not be sustained as long as they had no real idea of what else might be worth pursuing in life.
Tess' tenacity and spunk in pursuit of her dreams draw our enthusiastic applause. We are happy ... when we see any human overcome daunting odds. But surely there are better things to aspire to than getting the corner office.
Movie Review: AFI's Great Love Stories: #91 Working Girl
Summary: 4 Stars
Now, first off, let me make it clear that I like this movie. Whenever it is on the tube, like it was tonight, I will make a point of watching the end of the film just to see the part where Melanie Griffith's Tess McGill realizes that she has just made her dream comes true and turns her head slowly to look at her office (see: Tear Jerker Scenes, below). Plus Carly Simon's "Let the Rivers Run" is one of her best songs and a great song to open and close this film. But one of the things I remember about this 1988 film is that Griffith received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress instead of Susan Sarandon for "Bull Durham." Griffith is good, but Sarandon was better. For that matter, "Working Girl" is good, but "Bull Durham" is better, which means it should have been on AFI's list. Granted most people would probably take Harrison Ford over Kevin Costner (although it was a closer call back in 1988), but Sigourney Weaver versus Tim Robbins is a real hard call for the third part of the love triangle.This rags to riches story focuses on secretary McGill, who has her eyes set on moving on up in the world of big business. When she is hired by Katherine Parker (Weaver), Associate Partner for Mergers & Acquisitions at Petty Marsh (good name) she thinks the glass ceiling has opened up. But it turns out her friendly female boss has been stealing her ideas. When Katharine is away, Tess gives herself a make over and starts playing with the big boys, in particular Jack Trainer (Ford), a Partner with Dewey Stone. Of course they end up mixing love and business, but it turns out to be a small world because it seems Jack and Katharine have been dating. The fantastic Joan Cusak plays Cyn, Tess's best bud, while Alec Baldwin is Mick Dugan, who is definitely not the man of Tess's dreams. Keep your eyes open for Kevin Spacey as the lecherous Bob Speck, Olympia Dukakis as the Personnel Director, and David Duchovny as Cyn's Engagement Party Guest.
Tear Jerker Scenes: (1) "No, Miss McGill. That's your office. in there."
Most Romantic Line: Actually the most romantic part is when Jack packs Tess's lunch for her first day of work, but the big lines are: (1) "I have a head for business and a bod for sin. Is there anything wrong with that?" and (2) "You can bend the rules plenty once you get to the top, but not while you're trying to get there. And if you're someone like me, you can't get there without bending the rules." Well, the title is "WORKING Girl," people.
If you like "Working," then check out these other films on AFI's list: #74 "Woman of the Year" and #12 "My Fair Lady." Why? Because "Woman of the Year" is also about the travails of love in the work place and "My Fair Lady" is about transformation. Tess McGill gets bonus points for doing the Galatea bit without the help of Pygmalion.
Movie Review: Don't label this film a "chick flick".
Summary: 4 Stars
This film has no action scenes, involves a romance, and tells the story of a working class female and her struggle to better her personal and professional life. On the surface the film may seem as though it is targeted towards a female audience, not so! Basically this film is about an underdog and the underdog's desire to better herself. This is something both males and females can relate to. The underdog, Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith), is not pure of heart. McGill manipulates, lies and deceives people to get what she wants. I think all people, to some extent, have done these very same things at some point in their lives. What is somewhat unique about this film is that the underdog has to come face to face with her moral wrong doings. Once she does this she is able to face the reality of her situation and for better or worse move on. Does she persevere and come out on top? I won't tell, watch the movie.
I think Mike Nichols did a fine job of taking a somewhat common story (an underdogs struggle to advance/win), a cast of recognizable but (at the time of the release) non "A" list actors, and a nice but unspectacular song & score and produced a hit movie worthy of all the "Oscar" nominations it received, including a win for Best Song. In other words the sum of the parts was greater than a single part. Some movies boast big names or a great song but the film fails to have the emotional impact or appeal that WG does. Speaking only for myself, I heard "Let the River Run" by Carly Simon before I saw WG and I didn't think the song was all that great. After I saw the film the song took on an entirely new aspect and I loved it.
Lastly, with the exception of Harrison Ford, who at that point in his career had not shed his action hero image, many of the actors in this film were not quite famous. Look for Kevin Spacy as a sleazy would be hiring boss, Oliver Platt who uses his supervisor position to act as a pimp, Joan Cusak reminds us why the 80's are known for "big hair", and a young Alec Baldwin who was busy trying to establish himself as an actor and not passing on his political ideology.
As for the DVD, it's priced right considering there are no extra features. I suspect, and hope a 20th anniversary edition is in the works.
Movie Review: Great fun...
Summary: 4 Stars
Working Girl is a very pleasant and entertaining movie. It is well directed and features a funny script and excellent performances by Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver. Melanie Griffith is quite good as well, although she sometimes appears a little more childish than would be expected given her ambition to rise to the top. Essentially, Working Girl is about Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith), an ambitious secretary eager to move up in the working world. After having several problems with her male bosses, Tess is relieved when she is transfered to work under the confident and seemingly friendly Katherine Parker (Sigourney Weaver). After Parker breaks her leg and Tess realizes she was planning to steal one of her ideas, however, Tess takes matters into her own hands and, posing as Parker, joins with successful executive Jack Trainer (Harrison Ford) to promote the deal herself.
Anyhow, the results of Tess McGill's attempts to advance in her job are very entertaining and often very funny. The scenes with Tess and Jack are especially humorous - for instance, as they walk towards the elevator in one scene, Jack repeatedly asks Tess for a date, but she refuses. When he insists, she responds, "You know, maybe I just don't like you." Jack looks up in surprise and, as the elevator doors close, says, "Me? Nah!"
So, overall, this is a very delightful and fun movie that shows the obstacles people sometimes face in the workplace. In it, Harrison Ford shows his ability for light comedy, Weaver is perfect as the calculating and evil boss, and Griffith is pretty good as Tess. On another more serious note, this movie has some of the most beautiful images of the World Trade Towers and the New York City skyline I have ever seen. These images are sadly moving in a way that could never have been imagined when the movie was first made.
Movie Review: Smashing the Glass Ceiling
Summary: 4 Stars
What I love about Mike Nichols' Working Girl, each time that I view the DVD, is that the film reminds me of the Cinderella fairytale re-envisioned as a corporate fable. While there are no evil stepmoms and stepsisters here, Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith) finds herself in just as miserable a situation, with a conniving boss (portrayed by a perfectly lanky Sigourney Weaver) and a duplicitous boyfriend (portrayed with an adequate balance of arrogance and warmth by Alec Baldwin).
Instead of a glass slipper, Tess slips into a little black dress with plenty of persuasion by her fairy godmother, Cynthia (played by John's big sister, Joan Cusack). The dress and the hair are key to hooking the corporate Prince (portrayed by a dapper Harrison Ford). It is the larger-than-life Cusack as "Cyn" -- Tess' nickname for her best friend from their Staten Island 'hood -- who rules in Working Girl.
Best Supporting Actress Cusack steals more than one scene, such as the one in which she reacts to an expensive dress from the wardrobe of Tess' boss with the line: "It's not even leather," the last word emphatically pronounced "LEH-thuh" as if the price tag on the dress were a working-class faux pas. In that scene, Griffith as Tess nearly faints. Brilliant!
However, Tess delivers my most favorite line in the movie, in a scene with Harrison Ford's character, Jack Trainor: "I've got a head for business and a bod for sin." I must admit that it's not only what she says in that scene, but also how she says it. Griffith and Ford's chemistry is as electric in Working Girl as that of Bogie and Bergman or Grant and (Audrey) Hepburn in their own Hollywood classics.
If you buy this DVD, it certainly will not disappoint.