Working Girl – 1988
Um… OK. This was a dumb movie. The plot could have been passably cute, but it just wasn’t. The casting was fine, except for the lead. The plot was predictable, and awfully unrealistic, but they tried to pass it all off as serious. And it had a great song that ran throughout the movie: “Let the River Run” by Carley Simon. It starred Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford, and Sigourney Weaver. But unfortunately, Griffith can’t act. She was terrible. I’m not sure if I can cover all the ways she ruined the film. But I’ll try.
Griffith plays Tess McGill, a secretary who is supposed to be very intelligent, but nobody ever sees it because they are too focused on her physical beauty. She gets a job working for Katharine Parker, played by Weaver. When Katharine breaks her leg skiing, Tess takes over her job. In an effort to get credit for her own merger idea that Katharine stole, she successfully passes herself off as having Katharine’s job. She begins business dealings with the other company, working with Jack Trainer, played by Ford. The merger begins to happen and Jack and Tess end up in bed together. Katherine learns of Tess’s deceptions and exposes her as a fraud. Jack takes Tess’s side and threatens to leave the deal if she is not included. Jack’s boss likes Tess’s gumption so much that he fires Katharine and gives Tess a high-power job with her own office. The end.
There were so many things about the plot that were unrealistic and, consequently, unbelievable. If they had just made the film a true farce, it might have been acceptable. But the movie’s main theme is female self-empowerment. It is supposed to be about a woman who has been getting the short end of every stick, and how, through strength of will and intelligence, she takes control of her own life, gets the validation and recognition she deserves, and becomes a stronger woman.
But Melanie Griffith ruined it. She was the film’s main protagonist, and I didn’t buy her performance for a second. Now, I’ll admit that there were certain scenes in which she did look very pretty. But then she began to speak. She had a soft voice that didn’t have an ounce of authority or confidence in it. She delivered her lines slowly and deliberately, almost like she was reading them from a book and was just learning to read. Even when she said something that was supposed to show how smart the character was, she just didn’t sound intelligent. Instead, she sounded like a teenage air-head bimbo who is trying way too hard to sound brainy.
And she often had a vacant look in her eyes, making her look like she didn’t really understand what she was saying, like she had memorized the dialogue, but had no clue what it meant. And there were far too many scenes showing Griffith in her underwear or just naked. If you are trying to get the audience to focus on her brains and personality, stop showing them her boobs.
But I have to place just as much blame on the ridiculous script. There were so many things that were a serious law-suit or even criminal proceedings just waiting to happen. For example, early in the film, Kevin Spacey has a little cameo in which he plays Bob Speck, an executive that invites Tess on a business outing with him, luring her into his limo with promises of a promotion or better job. She is trying to talk business, while Bob is snorting cocaine. Then he offers to play a training video for her and starts playing a porn video. OK, that is a serious law suit right there! I know it was the 1980s, but even back then, that kind of sexual harassment would at best get Bob fired, at worst, get him slapped with criminal charges.
And the whole plot of the movie, in which Tess lies, steals, and cheats her way into the merger deal is preposterous. Once her many lies are exposed, the deal would fall through, pending a criminal investigation into Tess and the business practices of the company she works for. As Tess’s boss, Katharine would also probably be investigated. Tess would not be rewarded for her dishonesty and her grossly questionable ethics. No, she would be fired, plain and simple.
But though their characters were caricatures, Weaver and Ford did good enough jobs with their own parts. I don’t blame them as much as I blame Mike Nichols and Kevin Wade, the film’s director and script writer. And I would be remiss if I didn’t blame the 80s, too! The gigantic 80s hairstyles worn by Griffith and her friend Cynthia, played by Joan Cusack, were like clown wigs. Very distracting.