| Overall Grade: |
A |
|
| Story: |
A |
|
|
| Acting: |
A+ |
|
|
| Direction: |
A+ |
|
|
| Visuals: |
A+ |
|
|
"Two way street."
by Blanche Rose (movies profile)
Jun 20, 2009
3
of
3 people found this review helpful
This is Katherine Parker's (Sigourney Weaver's) line to her newly hired secretary Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith), who has grown to have a blind trust in her high class boss, and even believes that their relationship is budding into a friendship.
Tess, who's previous experiences in the workplace have not been at all positive, WANTS to believe that Katherine truly is fond of her, but is about to find out that these poised, sharply dressed mentors aren't always what they seem.
We first meet Tess, in what turn out to be the death throws of her previous job working for Lutz and Turkel (two guys whose idea of a joke is setting Tess up for a mock "job interview" with a guy named Bob).
"This isn't another set up?" Tess asks Lutz, on the day before the encounter.
"Do I look like a pimp?" Lutz, asks.
As it turns out Lutz (a terrific Oliver Platt early in his career) IS a pimp.
The meeting with Bob takes place in the back of a limo where Bob (in between snorts of cocaine) lamely keeps of the charade of a job interview for a few seconds before saying:
"Well discuss that at the hotel."
"The hotel?"
Kevin Spacey was great in this little part. Indeed a great part of the fun of watching this movie is seeing all these talented actors in cameo roles before they became truly famous.
Their work really adds to the story.
After spraying Bob with his own champagne, Tess (in a rage) heads to her office, where she fire-bombs her position at Lutz and Turkel, and ends up appealing to her employment agent (Olympia Dukakis) yet again.
"Tess...Tess..." the woman says in dismay, "You don't get ahead in this world by calling your boss a pimp."
"Well he is."
After admonishing her, the employment agent gives her a position as Catherine Parker's secretary adding:
"This is the last time I can help you. Four strikes you're out."
Sigourney Weaver is great in the role of Catherine Parker. The only role I can safely say I liked her better in was Copycat (and that's probably because I prefer that carachter).
Everyone (including the audience) WANTS to believe that Catherine is Tess's friend, that the advice she is giving her is heart-felt, and that her encouraging Tess to share her ideas comes from a sincere desire to help instead of exploit.
When Tess comes up with a brain-storm for a business tycoon named Oren Trask (Phillip Bosco) to buy into radio in order to avoid a take over,
Catherine promises to give the idea a "go around" in order to see what happens.
The following day, as Tess is helping Catherine into her ski boots, the latter confides her plans to go away for the weekend with boyfriend Jack Trainer whom she is certain is about to pop the question.
"But what if he doesn't?" Tess asks.
"I don't really think that's a variable. I've made it clear that I would be receptive to a proposal, I'm free in June, and I am, after all...me."
Then she confesses mournfully that Tess's idea was rejected, but encourages her to keep up the thinking.
The following day she breaks her leg (while doing some overconfident skiing, and has to ask Tess to take care of her house while she's convalescing in Aspen).
It is there that (while listening to her bosses tape-recorder), Tess finds out the truth about her idea: That Catherine was taking it to Trask while taking credit for it herself.
That night she goes home to find her boyfriend Mick (Alec Baldwin), in bed with another woman.
Her sense of trust shattered, by all except her best friend Cynthia (Joan Cusack), Tess decides to take advantage of Catherine's abscence.
She has her girlfriend cut her hair, wears her bosses six thousand dollar evening gown and goes to a corporate social function to meet Jack Trainer (who turns out, of course to be Harrison Ford), to see if they can team up together to broker a deal with Trask concerning her radio idea.
Jack (who never made it to Aspen and was -we learn later- about to BREAK UP with Catherine) is quite taken with Tess, whom he believes to be an executive at Catherine's level.
Cynthia pretends to be her secretary, and Jack (who was told the previous one was stolen) buys her a brand new briefcase.
The deal goes quite smoothly, and there's even an hysterical wedding reception-scene which lightens up the movie considerably.
The trouble comes when Catherine returns unexpectedly, which would be, of course, on the very DAY they're going to close the deal, and upon finding out her secretary's activities, sets out to destroy all of Tess's dreams.
(Including any future with Jack Trainer).
Everybody enjoyed making this movie, and everybody was terrific in it. As was the script, the direction and the soundtrack by Carly Simon. |
My Public Profile 
