Armas de mujer

Although the 60s and 70s are thought of as the age of feminism, it wasn't really until the 80s that women really achieved a bit of equality in movie land. But this being a less radical time, the dramas about powerful women tended to be a synthesis of Women's Lib and Reagan era entrepreneurial optimism. This is after all what success meant in that decade. But of-its-time as it is, Working Girl is still an entertaining and uplifting picture.

Written by Kevin Wade, Working Girl is a nice, neatly-constructed story. On a broad level it could be seen a black-and-white tale of good guys and bad guys. But what saves the characters from appearing one-dimensional is that they are written with a great deal of knowing realism. Who hasn't worked for a boss like Sigourney Weaver's character, or been cheated on by a jerk like Alec Baldwin's? One thing that keeps Working Girl engaging is that, while not an out-and-out comedy it is often tentatively funny in the way that real life is funny, such as Alec Baldwin's futile claim that "This isn't what it looks like".

The effectiveness of Working Girl often hinges on the way its characters are projected. On paper, Tess McGill isn't necessarily sympathetic, and neither is Katherine Parker necessarily unpleasant, at least not in the first half of the movie. However, Melanie Griffith portrays the lead with enough drive to appear credible as a go-getter, but all wrapped in a kind of sensitive charm that makes her likable. It's lucky she didn't inherit her mother's steeliness. And Sigourney Weaver manages to convey a smug and patronising manner that is only hinted at in the script, but never quite overdoing it so it is still believable that Griffith initially warms to her. Harrison Ford is at his best too, moulding the role round his limited range by giving a business-world version of his usual level-headed action hero type.

If you're a fan of the look of this era, Working Girl will be a real treat for the eyes – everything from glorious cityscapes to pouffy dresses. I'm glad director Mike Nichols puts such an emphasis on places and props, without loosing sight of the people of course. The changing fashions of the decade are even woven into the movie's themes, as Griffith swaps her hairsprayed bouffant and dangly bangles for an elegant, simple look. Working Girl is an incredibly 80s movie, but it's also the death of 80s extravagance we're witnessing there on screen. Of course, she still wears a pair of pink glasses with rims the size of beermats, but there you go. 80s extravagance died hard.

Wonderful romance-comedy in the tradition of Capra and Sturges with Griffith perfectly cast as a woman posing as a business mogul to get ahead in the corporate world and spite bitchy boss Weaver, who is simply divine. Ford is especially precious in a rare romantic-comedy as Griffith's partner in business and love interest. The story is creative and witty. Mike Nichols' direction is sharp and in the highest form. The fine supporting cast also features Cusack and the always durable Phillip Bosco. Carly Simon's wonderful song won an Oscar.

A pure fantasy served up by Mike Nichols, but a vastly entertaining one.

Melanie Griffith is the secretary with massive hair who pretends to be a corporate business woman when her boss is layed up with a broken leg. The catch is, she finds out she's pretty good at it, and things get complicated when she ends up spearheading a business deal and falling in love with her key partner (Harrison Ford), all the while trying to keep what she's doing from her boss (Sigourney Weaver). It's the kind of movie that could just as easily have been made as a screwball comedy in the 1940s, perhaps with Barbara Stanwyck in the lead role.

The film is a classic in its own small way, one of the best comedies to emerge from the 1980s. Griffith is matched well with her role, so her limitations as an actress don't draw too much attention to themselves. But it's Weaver who steals the show as Griffith's imperious boss. She's a riot as a confident and powerful career woman from hell. And Joan Cusack steals a few scenes of her own as Griffith's best friend and fellow secretary, who sports hair as big as Griffith's and a Joisy accent to boot.

Nichols knows how to direct a comedy so that the funny bits speak for themselves.

Grade: A

80's at its peak. 80's at it's best. 80's in America. Big hair, big clothes, big dreams. Casting and directing great. Plot with a twist. Fun and watchable like it is expected from the 80's movie.

Because there's so much content out there and I'll never get through everything I want to see in my lifetime, to help me decide, I often segue from one actor, director, or theme to another. Mike Nichols was the bridge this past weekend for Super Saturday Cinema since I watched "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" recently and have seen "Closer", "Charlie Wilson's War", and "Postcards from the Edge" in the past few years.

. This is a movie of its time, still entertaining but also allowing for a bit of anthropological thinking about the 80s. There are many good elements that have survived the test of time (35 years!), including an excellent cast, a good story, a great director, and omigod, the hair! If anyone wonders whether women really wore their hair like that, they only need to look at my 1988 high dchool yearbook where every senior girl worth her salt had her hair Aqua-Netted to the gods.