Cheap Working Girl (DVD) (Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, Melanie Griffith) (Mike Nichols) Price

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Customer Reviews of Working Girl

AFI's Great Love Stories: #91 Working Girl
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.

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One of the best pictures of 1988; a true feel-good movie.
By now, "Working Girl" is an 80's classic. There was something about the film then, and it remains attractive to this day. Melanie Griffith plays Tess McGill, a hard-working secretary who is full of ideas and suggestions. When she begins work under classy Catherine Parker (Sigourney Weaver), she makes a plan to help a mega-million-dollar company. Parker turns down the idea, and breaks her leg skiing. Tess seizes the opportunity to market her idea (as well as take over Parker's office, wardrobe, and house) and teams up with playboy investment banker Jack Trainer (Harrison Ford). Together, they're gonna go the top ... or else get fired trying. Mike Nichols paints a beautiful portrait of life in the Big Apple. The casting is flawless, and the script is both very entertaining and quite funny. On top of that, Rob Mounsey dishes out a very good score and Carly Simon's music won an Academy Award. Nominated for six Academy Awards, "Working Girl" is one comedy of hope that you won't want to miss.

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Don't miss this one...
In my opinion, the main drawback of the film was that Melanie Griffith gave a performance that was too breathy, and sometimes it was annoying to hear her speak. This is not to say that her acting wasn't good - she was able to bring the right amount of spunk and vulnerability to her role.

Harrison Ford is wonderful here, witty and charming - this is not a role you usually see him in. And Sigourney Weaver is delightfully wicked. There are many moving moments in the film, as well as humorous ones, and you'll quickly be drawn into the story of the hard-working, ambitious secretary who aims for a bigger job, and gets herself a fine man in the process.