Working Girl


3.5/4

Starring: Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, Joan Cusack

Rated R for Language and Sexual Content (I Guess)

“Working Girl” is for everyone who has worked hard and gotten nowhere, and for everyone who has gotten screwed.  That’s just about everyone.  Although not everyone will be given the chance that Tess McGill (Griffith) is, it gives us hope that even in this dog-eat-dog world, there is a possibility for rising to the top.

Tess is a secretary with big dreams.  She doesn’t come from an ideal background for a job on Wall Street, but she’s taking night classes to better herself.  The problem is, everyone passes her by in favor of someone with a better pedigree, like Katherine Parker (Weaver), Tess’s new boss.  She’s kind and gentle and promises that if Tess works hard, she will help her move up the ladder.  The high-pitched Tess thinks she’s in a good position to go far, until she realizes that Katherine stole her idea and passed it off as her own.  As luck would have it, Katherine is out of town with a skiing injury, leaving Tess with the opportunity to make a name for herself.  Along the way, she begins to fall for her new business partner, Jack Trainer (Ford), who is fed up with the hoitey-toitey execs with their Ivy League degrees and all-work-and-no-play snootiness.  But how long can Tess keep up the charade before she’s caught?

The movie is pure formula, and like the best formula movies, it works because it is creative and intelligent with the details.  Director Mike Nichols really takes the time to set the scene for all of his characters, especially Tess since the story is told from her point of view.  Nichols never settles for caricatures.  When he shows us what kind of a crowd Tess hangs with out of the office, they’re nice people (well, most), but Tess doesn’t fit in there, and we understand why she wants to get out.

The performances are where the film really shines, and they more than make up for the film’s other deficiencies.  Melanie Griffith was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal as the determined Tess, and rightly so.  She’s been put upon so many times that it’s a wonder how she still keeps her head up high.  So what if she dishes out a little revenge to get there?  But she’s no weakling.  Tess knows that in order to pull off the impossible, she has to jump in head first and keep going.  Sigourney Weaver is also in fine form as the boss who is pleasant and supporting on the surface, but snide and nasty underneath.  By not going over-the-top, Weaver allows us to identify with her better, which of course makes revenge all the sweeter.  Harrison Ford has been primarily an action star, but while he’s definitely not the most versatile of actors, he’s solid here.  And of course, there’s Joan Cusack as Tess’s flighty best friend Cyn (with all that big hair, she’s impossible not to forget).

There are some definite problems, however.  It’s a little too long, a little too subtle, and there’s not much chemistry between Griffith and Ford (or maybe it’s just that it’s too understated).  More of a problem is the soundtrack.  For about 90% of the movie, it’s just a variation on Carly Simon’s Oscar-winning song “Let the River Run.”  In the right places, it works, but it gets a little repetitive.

Still, this is an undeniably charming little movie, and the perfect antidote for anyone who has had (or has) a terrible boss.

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