Working Girl (1988)
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An ambitious secretary secretly takes over her boss's role to prove her capabilities in the corporate world.
The story
Tess McGill is a working-class woman from Staten Island who dreams of climbing the corporate ladder to an executive position. Having earned a business degree via night school, she works as a secretary at a stockbroker firm in lower Manhattan. There, Tess's boss and male co-workers treat her like a bimbo, despite benefiting from her intelligence and business instincts. After one humiliation too many from her scornful boss, Tess retaliates by posting on a VDT what she thinks of him and of what he's done. This greatly amuses Tess's colleagues, but also gets her fired.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Tess McGill, a secretary at a stockbroker firm in lower Manhattan, is fired after retaliating against her boss. She lands a new job as an administrative assistant to Katharine Parker at the mergers-and-acquisitions firm Petty Marsh. When Katharine breaks her leg skiing, Tess discovers meeting notes revealing Katharine's intention to steal Tess's idea for a radio network purchase by Trask Industries. Tess dumps her live-in boyfriend and, with help from her friend Cyn, gives herself a makeover to look professional. She secretly uses Katharine's connections to push the Trask proposal. During the process, she meets Jack Trainer, a mergers-and-acquisitions associate who is attracted to her. After a night together where they both feign non-recognition, they successfully present the merger to Trask. However, Katharine returns and crashes the meeting, outing Tess as the secretary and accusing her of theft. Tess is initially humiliated but later returns to the office where Jack sticks up for her. Tess explains the plan's inspiration to Trask, leading to Katharine being fired. Tess lands an entry-level job at Trask Industries and moves in with Jack, where she establishes herself as a peer rather than an assistant.
- First release year
- 1988
- Runtime (minutes)
- 113
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Mike Nichols
- Writers
- Kevin Wade · writer
- Cast and characters
- Harrison Ford · Jack Trainer; Sigourney Weaver · Katharine Parker; Melanie Griffith · Tess McGill; Alec Baldwin · Mick Dugan; Joan Cusack · Cynthia; Philip Bosco · Oren Trask; Zach Grenier · Jim; Timothy Carhart · Tim Draper
- Genres
- romantic comedy; drama; comedy-drama
- Themes
- corporate ladder climbing; gender dynamics in the workplace; social class
- Tone and mood
- ambitious; romantic; dramatic
- Premise and plot tags
- workplace comedy; feminist film; business film; romantic comedy
- Content notes
- alcohol
- Reception
- The film was met with critical acclaim and was a major box office success, grossing a worldwide total of $103 million.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 73 · scale: 100 · review count: 13
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Original Song · win; Golden Globe Award · Best Original Song · win; Grammy Award · Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television · win; Golden Globe · Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy · win; Golden Globe · Best Actress – Musical or Comedy · win; Golden Globe · Best Supporting Actress · win; Academy Award · Best Picture · nomination; Academy Award · Best Director · nomination; Academy Award · Best Actress · nomination; Academy Award · Best Supporting Actress · nomination; BAFTA · Best Actress · nomination; BAFTA · Best Supporting Actress · nomination; BAFTA · Best Original Score · nomination
- Production trivia
- The film's opening sequence features Carly Simon's song 'Let the River Run'.; The film was adapted into a short-lived NBC television series in 1990.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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