WORKING GIRL
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1989 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: WORKING GIRL will probably be the film with which Melanie Griffith breaks through to stardom and genuine name recognition. She plays a secretary who discovers that her boss (Sigourney Weaver) has stolen her idea and decides to put the idea over herself. Rating: low +2.
Tess McGill is one of hundreds of secretaries in a Manhattan brokerage house. She has gone to night school to learn the business and what she hopes will set her apart is her drive to get ahead. Her company holds out the carrot to her that she may someday get a better job, but it is clear from her modish mini-skirted dress, her excessive jewelry and makeup, and her long hair that she is just not the type of person who makes it into the upper echelons. One evening she discovers that her boyfriend is cheating on her and that her boss is using her and stealing her ideas for a client's investments. Fed up, she decides to get serious about the business. She cuts her hair, dresses for a higher class, passes herself off as being at her boss's level, and goes out to pitch her ideas for herself. WORKING GIRL is the story of the elaborate ruse and the effects it has on Tess, her boss, and a foundering executive at the client's business.
Just as Tess was competent but never got any special notice until she pulled her business coup, Melanie Griffith (who plays Tess) did not get any particular recognition until WORKING GIRL. She was a familiar face who had been seen in several films: NIGHT MOVES, the all too rarely seen SMILE, ONE ON ONE, BODY DOUBLE, STORMY MONDAY, and THE MILAGRO BEANFIELD WAR. Her only role that really got critical attention was that of Lulu in Jonathan Demme's SOMETHING WILD. I suspect that with WORKING GIRL she has made herself a recognizable star. WORKING GIRL is her film even if Fox unconscionably gives her third billing. Second billing goes to Sigourney Weaver as her boss and adversary. Weaver plays a slick shark of an executive who uses every dirty trick, including sex, to fight the fight. This is the first time I have seen her play a villain. Top billing goes to Harrison Ford who is just barely one of the major characters of the film. (Perhaps as a subtle protest to the billing, Sigourney Weaver has been quoted as saying, "I loved the idea of playing a supporting role with Melanie the star.")
WORKING GIRL was directed by Mike Nichols with a little less bite than his films usually have. Of course, Nichols' best-loved film is THE GRADUATE and generally his films (like CATCH 22, WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, CARNAL KNOWLEDGE, and SILKWOOD) make a social statement. The social statement here is "do not exploit you fellow workers" and "you should fight to get ahead," not unlike the moral of Colin Higgins' comparable--but not as good--9 TO 5. Where SILKWOOD was negative on big business, WORKING GIRL concentrates on both faults and virtues. Rate it a low +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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