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Never having seen this film, we decided to take a chance with it. We were quite surprised to learn this Hollywood film is based on a French one, "L'associe", written for the screen by Jean Claude Carriere and based on Jenaro Prieto's novel "El Socio". Daniel Petrie, its director is working with Nick Thiel's adaptation, which appears to have been a vehicle for its star, Whoopi Goldberg.

Some comments have compared this movie with "Working Girl", a film that also dealt with a smart woman working in the financial world, one of the themes in "The Associate". We are introduced to an intelligent woman, Laurel Ayers, who happens to have three things going against her, she is black, a woman, and is intelligent enough to merit a promotion in the Wall Street firm she works for. Unfortunately, it comes as no surprise that Laurel is passed and her co-worker, Frank, gets the good job and becomes her boss.

The film is mildly funny, as Laurel goes to make a name for herself by creating a "silent" partner, Mr. Cutty, who is never seen. The financial world is all in a frenzy to meet him, and the hilarious appearance at the Plaza Hotel, instead of making things clear, contributes to his myth.

Ms. Goldberg is delightful to watch. Dianne Wiest makes an impressive appearance as the loyal Sally, who is an under appreciated woman. Timothy Daly is perfect as the egotistical Frank. The supporting cast is good. Bebe Neuwirth, Eli Wallach, Austin Pendelton, and a funny Lanie Kazan as a financial gossip writer.

While the film is predictable, it offers some funny moments.

I always enjoy Whoopi Goldberg in films, and the 1996 film "The Associate" is no exception. Based on a French film, it's the story of a Laurel Ayres (Goldberg) who is having trouble "making it" in a man's world, though she's smarter than all of them. After being manipulated and beaten out of a promotion at her old job by slick Frank (Tim Daly), Laurel starts her own company and quickly goes nowhere. She gets some help from an assistant at the old firm, Sally (Diane Wiest) and ultimately decides to make up a male associate, Robert Cutty. It works like a charm, and business is flying in the door. However, everyone is most anxious to meet Cutty, and there comes a point when she has to produce him. And when she does, he's obviously been based on Marlon Brando - the older Marlon Brando.

This is an amusing film that could have been hilarious. It does have some great moments, though, and likable characters in Goldberg and Wiest. Other fine performances include those of Daly, Lainie Kazan as a cutting columnist and Eli Wallach as a client.

The other problem I have with the film is that it is sorely dated. It's hard to believe that, while sexism still exists, Laurel would have so much trouble from the old boys' network in 1996. Sure enough, as I suspected, the film on which it is based was done in 1979. Remington Steele, a TV series based on the same premise, was produced in the '80s.

Surely in 1996, a woman of Laurel's obvious talent would have been more appreciated where she worked and could have launched a successful business without a fake male associate. Anne Mulcahy of Xerox and Ho Ching of Temasek Holdings are only two examples of such powerful executives from the 1990s.

Still, it's entertaining and fun, and a reminder that they don't make this kind of comedy anymore.

Watchable if nothing else, this Whoopi Goldberg vehicle doesn't reach for the stars, but instead weaves social commentary on the glass ceiling and racial prejudice into the comedy of a business whiz (Goldberg) who invents a fictitious business partner when she finds she can't advance on her own merits, apparently due to her gender and race. But the ruse becomes difficult to manage as various investors demand to meet the elusive "Mr Cutty", and Goldberg resorts to costumes and well-staged theatrics to hide the fact that Cutty doesn't exist.

Reasonable supporting cast features Tim Daly as a sleazy corporate type, ubiquitous to just about every film that depicts 'corporate America', Dianne Wiest as Goldberg's chronically under-appreciated right-hand woman, Eli Wallach as an old-school investor keen to meet the elusive Mr Cutty, and Austin Pendleton as a bookish inventor and CEO on the brink of bankruptcy until Goldberg can restore his standing. Blink and you'll miss Colleen Camp in a very minor role as a detective.

Occasional slapstick and farce, fused with the usual dry-wit for which Goldberg is accustomed, it's a studio picture with all the typical hooks and clichés, nevertheless, very mild and satisfying. And as a footnote, good to see Bebe Neuwirth in a particularly sultry role as an all-too-eager business associate to Wallach; she has a couple of scenes sans most of her wardrobe that are quite revealing.

Women's lib would really go for this 1996 film about a woman who loses a promotion to her fellow worker despite her better experience and seniority.

Since she will now be a subordinate to this guy, she quits and forms her own investment group. She is aided by a very frumpy Dianne Wiest.

When she can't get anywhere due to her sex, she invents a male partner to get her ideas accepted.

The film is a funny one and when Whoopi is forced to "produce" this partner, she gets a costume with the white face of a Marlon Brando mixed with a Thomas Jefferson profile and hair-do. That part is really hilarious.

Of course, there is more fun ahead when Whoopi is accused of killing this partner and Wiest is accused of being an accessory to murder.

With all this, the film is highly predictable but go enjoy it anyway.

I just watched this film on TV, and I wasn't that impressed. "Interlink will make internet look obsolete" and out of date lines like that didn't help either.

But the main problem of the film is that its TO ridiculous to be believable. Being a comedy its supposed to be a bit ridiculous, but having every single character except Whoopi's be total idiots is to much. And the applaud sequence at the end, ugh, thats to lame to even comment upon =/ .

The topic of the movie (women having a hard time in the business world) is perhaps a good one, but the way its done is way to bad.

I give it 3-4 out of 10.

I gave this movie a 10 not because it's perfect, not because it's the best movie I've seen, but because the way it made me feel when I watched it. I love Whoopi and she does a great job in this movie, as she does on any other movie she made. Her personality just shines. I used to think that "actors" can really learn any role and they can be whoever they were needed to be. But Whoopi fits this role perfectly. I couldn't have thought of a better actress to fit the character.

The movie is funny. The bad guy always gets it and it has a happy ending. Sounds a bit cliché, but isn't that how we all want it to end? This is a perfect screening for the stay-at-home moms or housewives.

An old whoopie film. My favorite is burglar; it's awesome. In the associate, laurel and frank are partners at a big wall street company. Laurel does all the work, but frank is an old time chauvinist. He calls the women all the usual nicknames, takes all the credit , and uses the male bonding tricks that worked until they didn't. Can laurel go out on her own and succeed? Tim daly was in the middle of the show wings; neuwirth had just finished cheers and jumanji. Goldberg was so well known for purple and ghost (oscar!). Keep an eye out for oscar winner diane wiest (sally)... she's probably best known as the mom in birdcage. Also keep an eye out for mrs. Cupchick... helen hanft was the little old lady in coming to america who says go on honey, take a chance! Small role for austin pendleton, from what's up doc. It's dated but fun. Whoopie in curlers. Directed by donald petrie. Novel by jenaro prieto.

Laurel Ayres (Whoopi Goldberg) and Frank Peterson (Tim Daly) are a top notch investment team. Laurel does all the work and her protégé Frank does the schmoozing. When the underhanded Frank gets her expected VP promotion, Laurel quits in frustration. She starts her own investment firm but everybody gives her the same brush off. Sally Dugan (Dianne Wiest) also quits and joins Laurel in her start-up. When businessman Donald Fallon (Eli Wallach) gives Laurel the same brush off, she manufactures a male partner named Robert S. Cutty. Unlike a black woman, a white man is immediately accepted into the old boys' club even though no one has ever seen him.

Whoopi Goldberg is too bitter and angry to be likeable. As a comedy, there are no laughs. It's not like Laurel is a nice person herself. Sally points out how dismissive she is to other women. It's interesting that Bebe Neuwirth's Camille Scott uses sex to get ahead as a foil. The whole boys club mentality is interesting but none of it is funny. As far as hitting the glass ceiling, there is a real reason why Laurel doesn't get promoted above the male chauvinist reasons. She has to be a good salesman as part of her job and she lacks the emotional IQ. Her character needs to be superior in every way to Frank and she's not. It's a dog eat dog world on Wall Street. When Laurel dress up Tootsie style, I fear for the worst but at least she looks reasonable as an old white guy. She looks like a bloated Martin Short. The premise is interesting but I don't like Laurel. Without that, it's hard to find any appealing comedy in this.

Too many people/reviews comment negatively on this movie and so, even though I would normally not post my comments on this site, I felt the need to create some *balance* here. This movie is well done, honest, and we ALL need more American movies that sway away from the usual "man-saves-world" trend. Credit to Whoopi and the other actors for choosing these roles. Acted well. It just plain _worked_. It's obvious that I am not too spiffy at this movie-critic role (duh), but as a 16 year old teenager who is unfamiliar with all the movie-jargan yet knows very well when she sees an underrated movie, I tell anyone reading this to watch this movie. And to those who don't think very highly of it, slap yourselves across the face and directly compare the quality of THIS to some of the more popular titles out there... I personally think that 'The Associate' would be better and deserves a much higher rating.

1st watched 5/9/2007 - 4 out of 10(Dir-Donald Petrie): OK comedy drama with Whoopi Goldberg playing a character reminiscent of the Robin Williams man to woman transformation character, Mrs. Doubtfire, but opposite, of course. Whoopi's character is a wall street investment associate in a firm where the men usually rule the roost. She is up for a promotion to Vice President, but loses it to her partner, primarily because he's a man who knows how to play to the higher-ups wim's. She quits and starts her own investment firm and invents an elderly white male partner named Robert S. Cutter and starts becoming very successful despite the fact that the companies never meet the illustrious Mr. Cutter, but instead Whoopi does all the work, and he's always traveling around the world and never available. Eventually, Cutter has to show himself and what we get is Whoopi in a pretty amazing transformation done by her cross-dressing friend. The transformation is so well done that it's hard to tell that it's Whoopi behind the wig, mask and the rounded-out body. The transformation isn't the problem in this movie, it's just that it has very few opportunities for Whoopi's comedic talents to come thru. Dianne Weist is actually very good in a supporting role as Whoopi's mega-talented secretary and Whoopi isn't bad in her performance with what she's given but the screenplay is very flat and un-inspired. This could have been a good expose on women in this field and how they're unable to penetrate the upper ranks but it doesn't come across that it has any desire to be much of anything which is very disappointing. I'd love to see Goldberg & Weist together again in a better film -- so maybe this will happen someday.

For me, 'The Associate' makes a decent one-time watch. It starts on a promising note with a female black lawyer trying to make it in the man's world. However, at some point as the plot moves, it fails to engage and it's quite clear what will happen in the end. The point 'The Associate' tries to make is that woman can make it on top but it (perhaps unintentionally) presents the men under a negative light. Some of the male characters are presented as stereotypical chauvinists. There are some funny moments that bring a few chuckles but not much that would make one laugh out loud. The best scenes are the ones with Wiest and Goldberg together. Wiest is adorable as the sweet and smart Dugan and Goldberg is adequate as Ayres. However, Goldberg has played several such roles and done numerous similar movies before and even though she's very versatile, she hardly presents anything new in 'The Associate'. I would like to see more of her and Wiest in better movies.

While I would like to say that I'm sure the producers of this work had no intention of ripping off that iconic television show, I'm sure any fans of the show will agree with me when I say that it did just that.

Without the rip off factor, this work is quite cute. It's empowering to women, and demonstrates how the premise of Remmington Steele's whole premise could actually happen. And you thought it was silly! Bah! Whooopie is awesome in this feature, and really commands the presence of an executive, but just beneath that corporate demeanor, lies the bad-a$$ who beat the snot out of "Ray" in Burglar. In spite of that, I loved it. Though it'll never win even a nomination, it was fun.

Whoopie? Work more in FRONT of the camera! I miss you! This rates a 5.8/10 from...

the Fiend :.

Forget about all lack of accuracy how create a person from nowhere, it's too dummy, comedies are to be enjoy instead convince if is true or not, too easy and amusing it's driven to breaks the walls of the men's offices, make a conterpoint to self called unfair men practices, the target is that....all remains is just for fun!!!

Resume

First watch: 1998 / How many: 2 / Source: Cable TV-DVD / Rating: 7.

Laurel Ayres (Whoopi Goldberg) is a very competent financial analyst who is deceived by her colleague Frank (Timothy Daly) in a promotion to VP. She decides to quit her job and open her own investment company. However, being a woman, she feels difficulties to get into this type of business in Wall Street. She decides to pretend she has a male associate in her company, who would be responsible for the advices. Together with her assistant Sally (the lovely Diane Wiest), they pass through funny situations. This pretentiousness comedy recalls the plot of Mike Nichols' `Working Girl', if you consider the storyline of a competent employee who has her own merits credited to another person. The film is not regular, and Laurel Ayres sometimes is bright, but other times she behaves like a stupid. Further, in the present days, it is hard to believe such a prejudice in Wall Street. This DVD has just been released in Brazil. For my surprise, this is a 1996 movie. My vote is six.

The low rating this movie got here is very strange since statistically , I think, the user rating should reflect the movie resonance/quality quite well - however not in this case.

This evening I watched The Associate for the 4th time and I loved it even more then ever.

Its funny and very cleverly crafted.

I will dare and say - a must see.

9/10

I live in Michigan, and we actually have some nearby Family Videos. However, they are closing soon, so they are selling their used DVDs for cheap. My Grandma/guardian bought a bunch from 2 stores, as did I. The Associate was one that she bought, and she asked if I would watch it with her. I said sure, but I wasn't too amused with the overall product.

The Associate stars Whoopi Goldberg as Laurel, a woman who doesn't get a promotion at work on the basis that she is not a man. As an act of retaliation, she makes up a partner for a work project. Her boss wants to meet him, but since he is fictitious, we hear the constant excuse that he's either out of town or on vacation. Soon, the co-partner must appear at an award party, and a friend who does makeup for strippers comes to the rescue.

To start with the things I liked about The Associate, it is a well shot movie(on that note, it's from the director of Miss. Congenialty), and Whoopi's acting is a pleasure to watch, although her character is not. I'll get back to that in a minute.

The movie is also entertaining often, and apart from Whoopi, Dianne West as her best friend was a great performance, my favorite one, in fact.

Finally, on a rare occasion, The Associate did make me laugh. For a comedy though, I wanted a bit more laughter than what I got.

However, I had a lot more problems than I do praise. To start, while Whoopi shows her acting talent in this movie, I failed to see why I should care for her character. A majority of what she says are lies- who her partner is, where he is, that he exists, etc. I understand that was the only way for her ideas to get across, but as she tells more and more lies, I felt less and less sympathy for her.

What lies does she tell? Well, for starters, When Laurel is asked what her partner's name is when in a bar, she's like ummm...and looks at the alcohol bottles behind the man who asked.

One is called Cutty, so she says "Mr. Cutty." Someone later asks the same question and when they hear "Mr. Cutty", they say, "Oh, like the whisky?" I had 2 thoughts: "No kidding" was first, and the other was: "Shouldn't that be a clue that she's making this up?" Good thing she wasn't looking at a bottle of champagne!

Countless times in the movie, Laurel's boss asks her to see Mr. Cutty. She repeats 2 excuses- He's out of town on business, or he's on vacation. They never question either response, aside from complaining about how he never shows up. That really annoyed me. He's never shown his face, he's barely contributed to the company, and he can't attend any meeting the boss asks of Laurel. When Laurel first takes the job, it is required for Mr. Cutty to show up, but since he is "out on business", they make an exception and give her a check for $100,000. Are you kidding me?

"Your partner needs to be here before you can be paid." "He's not here, he's in another country." "Oh, okay...here's $100,000."

Also, if you never show up for your job, don't you, um...get fired? No one wants to fire Mr. Cutty for not showing up, even when the excuse is that he is on VACATION from the job he hasn't even started, a point no employee at the business brings up or questions extensively.

To move on, every character in this movie is an IDIOT. Apart from Dianne West, who figures out that Laurel is Mr. Cutty on her own, no one can figure out that Mr. Cutty is fake. When only your 2 main characters have any sort of intelligence, I'm sorry, but you have not made a great movie.

The movie is also unoriginal, since the plot clearly borrows from the likes of Mrs. Doubtfire and Tootsie. All 3 of these movies are about someone disgusing themselves as the opposite sex to get what they want. However, Mrs. Doubtfire and Tootsie are FAR superior movies.

Speaking of which. Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams are convincing as women in their respective movies, but Whoopi does not make for a convincing white man. Even for a movie, I couldn't beleive anyone saw "Mr. Cutty" and bought that "he" was a man. Eddie Murphy does a better job being a white man in both Coming To America and The Nutty Professor. And yes, he's a guy, but still!

The film's message seems to be a pro-feminism one, since Laurel is discriminated against for being a woman and she fights against it. I have no problem with that message at all- I do believe that such a discrimination is wrong and that it should be fought against.

That said, I don't see how lying to get a better position is a fair basis for equality. Lying so extensively doesn't really make for a strong, independent woman. If I had written this script, I would have had her quit the job and start a business that is just as successful, if not more.

In fact, as I was watching this, I thought of the Disney movie Mulan, where she pretends to be a man so her elderly father doesn't have to fight in war. She also lies about being a man, but a)she does a much better job covering it up, and b)there was a more worthy cause. Laurel could have quit her job. Mulan had to keep going to do what is right. Yes, I have compared a live action movie to an animated one, and that should speak volumes.

If you want better movies that are both good and feminist, then see: Erin Brockovich, Fried Green Tomatoes, Iron Jawed Angels, or Thelma and Louise. And, as a bonus, Whoopi Goldberg does a better job displaying this message in The Color Purple.

As I said, Whoopi and Dianne West both gave great performances. If that is all you care about, you may like this movie. But as a whole, I don't recommend The Associate. It has a great message, but not a great story. And you need both to make a good movie.

Reverse Reccomendations: Apart from The Color Purple, better Whoopi Goldberg movies include: The Lion King, Blizzard, and Rat Race.(Be in a silly mood for that one.)

Very funny. Very entertaining. Very well done movie. Excellent acting and a lot of fun. I enjoyed it. Whoopi Goldberg is perfect in the part of a financial analyst who seems to get no where in a man's world until she creates an maginary partner only to find that the imaginary partner--a man--is taking all the credit for her hard work. I thought the idea and the concept were imaginative and well done. Dianne Weist is perfect in her part as is Tim Daly. You know a movie is funny when Lanie Kazan is in it--remember her as Freida in the Nanny. I recommend The Associate for all. It's a family film as well and you will be glad you saw it!!!

No, this is not from a John Grisham novel. An ambitious young black woman (Goldberg) tries to establish her own Wall Street investment firm, but quickly finds the business is part of the old boys' club. In order to get anyone to listen to her, she invents a male partner who always seems to be out of the office. This gets her into all sorts of jams. Director Donald Petrie wisely keeps Goldberg ducking and dodging all sorts of sticky situations for the first half, before having her slap on white face and a fat suit to pose as her imaginary partner in the second half. Dianne Wiest is wonderful as her mousy but very bright assistant, and the best parts of the movie are the scenes involving the two women. Bebe Nuewerth has a funny role as a corporate seductress, and Eli Wallach is a wealthy businessman eager to deal with Goldberg's firm but only if he can meet her partner. Tim Daly and Austin Pendleton add to the merriment as, respectively, Goldberg's ex-boss and a Bill Gates type. The movie walks a fine line between social commentary and laughs, and was shot in New York and New Jersey during winter, which gives the film a much more realistic look considering the absurdity of the premise.

I will never understand the Hollywood writers who can't get around public disclosure/exposure.

From the second the movie started I knew how it was going to end. NO surprises and I can only wonder when they will stop doing this.

How many movies have you ever seen where the person decides to either "COME CLEAN" and tell the truth in front of the entire world or is exposed in front of the entire world.

At what point does it stop? I can't even think of the last time a movie that did this did well. SO WHY KEEP DOING IT????

There was a great premise to the movie about women and the glass ceiling, but instead it turned into an idiotic movie. WHO didn't know the second Whoopi's character said Cutty died on the boat that everyone would survive? Who didn't think that no one in real life with that kind of smarts would do something that stupid?

Then the idiotic attempt with the car wreck. It just kept getting stupider and stupider.

Then who didn't know she was going to expose who she really was at the dinner? ANYONE? AND then that she was going to get an ovation from the people outside? No wonder movies like this keep failing. NO ORIGINALITY. NONE! They could have made it funnier and more believable and still gotten away from that idiotic PUBLIC EXPOSURE crud. AND still made a great point.

But they didn't and they still keep doing that idiocy. You see it on TV shows every darned week and movies to this day do it.

DUMB DUMB DUMB DUMB. Too bad they had idiot formula writers. Or did they even have writers? Maybe just something downloaded from the internet.

Who knows? Such a good premise too.