Working Girl (Widescreen)

But let's start with the strengths. Mike Nichol's film is well-crafted from top to bottom. The screenplay moves along briskly to a satisfying conclusion, as Tess overcomes both prejudice and a deceitful boss in order to realize her ambition of becoming a real business executive. The acting is top-notch across the board. Griffith gave a career performance in this film -- letting us see both the vulnerability and the underlying grit of her character. In the real world, people in her situation are not likely to achieve what Tess achieves, and Griffith shows how frightening Tess' quest would be to someone who didn't know she was in a movie ... Her radiant performance is the heart of the film, but she is well-supported by Harrison Ford (as the not-as-cocky-as-he-seems love interest) and Sigourney Weaver (as the boss from hell). Along the way we catch a lot of famous actors before they hit it big: Kevin Spacey, Oliver Platt, Alex Baldwin, and David Duchovny. Especially memorable is Joan Cusack, who plays Tess' friend, and who manages to steal every scene in which she appears. All of the actors look like they had a blast working on this project.

It's impossible not to like WORKING GIRL, but I do have to pause at the underlying values celebrated in the film. First, even as the film sympathetically documents the obstacles that can impede the ambition of talented people born in the working class, it still assumes that being in the working class is somehow a "failure." The film never questions Griffith's desire to become a member of the executive class, even as she realizes the levels of deceit and treachery that often exist there. We get no sense that one might find a rich and satisfying life as a secretary, and by making that assumption we are forced to buy into the very class differences the film seems to be critiquing.

The film is a celebration of success American-style, which is particularly ironic coming from Mike Nichols, who first made his mark as the director of THE GRADUATE, which indicted the American notion of "success" as being ultimately empty and soul-stealing... Where did all that idealism go? I think Carly Simon's Oscar-winning song gives us one clue - it is a hymn to the New Jerusalem. Perhaps the baby boomers' youthful rejection of the "system" could not be sustained as long as they had no real idea of what else might be worth pursuing in life.

Tess' tenacity and spunk in pursuit of her dreams draw our enthusiastic applause. We are happy ... when we see any human overcome daunting odds. But surely there are better things to aspire to than getting the corner office.

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.