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Working Girl Customer Reviews (10 - 12 of 31 Reviews)

Awkward Drama from an Outstanding Director
From the opening of the film, where we are treated to an outrageous glimpse of female hair in the 1980s, I knew I was in for a different kind of movie. WORKING GIRL chronicles Tess McGill's (played by Melanie Griffith) struggle against a working world dominated by men and education. While working as a secretary for a serpentine boss (Sigourney Weaver), Tess takes advantage of her boss's skiing accident to try her hand at running the show. Naturally, things spiral towards a climax and the film ends in an all-too-typical fashion.

To be honest, I really do not know what to say about this film. It was billed as a Mike Nichols comedy, so I thought I was going to get a love-story/romantic comedy of the working world. I was wrong. WORKING GIRL suffers from the fact that it does not seem to know what genre it is producing. To be sure, it has a few jokes, but the meat of the film is an awkward drama told at a slow pace. In fact, it is only a "comedy" insofar as its storyline focuses on an ordinary character whose development goes from a depressing low to an ecstatic high. I really expected more from Nichols. Any glance at his career will confirm that he is capable of far more. I also expected more from this cast. Everybody is in this film and most of them can act, so I must conclude that it was the script.

On top of everything else, I found it hard to identify with Tess's character. On the one hand, you wanted to see her succeed over her scheming boss. But Tess resorts to equally (if not more fraudulent) tactics in order to weasel her way to the top. She does not "sleep" her way up the chain of command as other films have depicted, but she might as well have because her methods are just as questionable. I find it quite hard to believe that things would work out for her as well as they do. You just do not hire someone who falsely presents herself as a professional, no matter how smart or dedicated she may be.

Why did WORKING GIRL get nominated for so many Oscars? It beats me. I can only guess that it garnered votes for tackling a tough topic (the male domination of the working world), having an all-star cast, and for having Mike Nichols as its director. For these reasons, I shall give it two stars. But my recommendation is that you skip this film and watch any other film that Mike Nichols has made.

Revenge of the Underling
There has been a time in most people's lives where they knew they could take on a responsibility if only they were given the chance. Such is the situation with Melanie Griffith, who has the ability to analyze disparate facts to determine the affect on a business. However, Melanie, playing secretary Tess McGill, is having trouble being recognized for her ability. Indeed, new boss Katharine Parker, excellently played by Sigourney Weaver, is stealing the best idea Tess ever had.

Near the beginning of this movie Tess receives one blow after another. She catches her boyfriend fooling around with another woman. When Tess' boss breaks her leg on a skiing trip and asks Tess to handle a few personal matters, Tess discovers that Katharine has stolen what Tess believes is a great idea, after leading Tess to believe that she has a chance to truly contribute. Since Katharine will be out for a few weeks until she can fly back from Europe, Tess decides to take her idea back and make it her own.

Tess contacts Jack Trainer, wonderfully played by Harrison Ford, a usually no-nonsense businessman who is good at executing business deals. Of course Tess has to get Jack to believe that she is an experienced executive, and with her plucky fearlessness she leads many of the escapades it takes to get Oren Trask (Philip Bosco) to listen to their plan to buy a string of radio stations.

We know that sooner or later someone is going to discover Tess' deception, and the near misses with discovery increase until Tess makes a fatal mistake by leaving her planner in Katharine's apartment. The movie's pace accelerates substantially until the humorous and satisfying ending.

The plot in this nicely paced movie moves along briskly, not allowing you to think too long about the risks that Tess is taking and how unlikely some of the situations might be. In fact, the plot is careful to make every step as plausible as possible, and I cheered her on from beginning to end. One of the interesting aspects of how Tess was portrayed is her style. Tess is blonde and Katharine Parker is brunette. Tess talks slowly, and at first glance an uninformed person might even think she is also mentally slow, but the contrast to fast talking and arrogant Katharine is intentional so that when Tess' abilities are revealed and her confidence bursts through her normally quiet demeanor we are pleased and just a little surprised. The execution of this transition is humorously well-handled and effective.

This 1988 movie features a heavy cast of well-known actors, including Alec Baldwin as Tess' macho boyfriend Mike Dugan, Joan Cusack as best friend Cyn, Kevin Spacey and Olympia Dukakis, to name a few. Some of the characters are deliberately campy and stereotypical to heighten the contrast and the humor.

The movie was nominated for multiple Oscars, including Best Picture, Actress, and Supporting Actress, but only Carly Simon's excellent song "Let the River Run" won. While the movie is good and worth watching more than once, it is a bit short for Best Picture and Actress. However, Cusack and Weaver both deserved their nominations for best supporting actress and Weaver especially could have won.

Enjoyable watching for those who know they could take only greater challenges if they had the chance, or took the chance, this movie is a humorous winner.


Melanie Griffith In Her Shining Moment
"Working Girl", starring Harrison Ford, Melanie Griffith, Sigourney Weaver, and others, is truly a top ten film of 1988. It received six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, winning one. This charming plot follows Tess (Griffith), a secretary with an ambition to reach the top, struggling to be heard. Through an unpleasant boss (Weaver) and other idea stealers, she must let nothing stop her. Meanwhile, her struggle only grows stronger as time passes. Slowly, she begins realizing her true self and her romantic feelings for the most unlikely man (Ford).

Through these events, the humor and the dramatic action maintain their potential strength. Each element features itself well in the perfect scenes, offering great viewing variety. Director Mike Nichols leads the cast and crew to give this wonderful storyline the great recognition it deserves. The most unlikely overall theme fits one another greatly. Most other films that attempt similar ideas don't succeed, which started becoming increasingly common in the 1980's. Few other films make such minor issues blend so well like "Working Girl".

Portions of this film feature great music mostly written by legendary artist Carly Simon ("You're So Vain", 1971) that gives this a great extention. This film opens and closes with the perfect song, the Oscar winning (Best Original Song) "Let the River Run". Like this one, all tracks from her were written and performed beautifully. All prove her level of musical greatness and influence.

Beyond the brilliant storyline of "Working Girl" notes the charming and enjoyable performances from the cast, especially Griffith, Ford, Weaver, Alec Baldwin and Joan Cusack. This film displays Griffith at her career best in her Oscar-nominated performance (Best Actress). She features all sides of her character very well, maintaining the nice, yet ambitious personality. Weaver proves that she's more than the science fiction prodigy Lt. Ripley ("Alien" trilogy). Her Golden Globe winning and Oscar-nominated performance (Best Supporting Actress) proves that 1988 was her big year in cinema. The character's witty and unpleasant personality expresses itself wonderfully. Viewers should watch for minor roles from Kevin Spacey, Oliver Platt, David Duchovny and Ricki Lake before they became household names.

"Working Girl" makes a great viewing classic for those wanting great laughs. This is sure to continue pleasing audiences as it has since its theatrical release.

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