The Associate

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!!!

THE ASSOCIATE ***1/2 Talented, competent executive Whoopi Goldberg decides to handle business her own way by starting her own Investments company after a nasty team player (Tim Daly) steals her job promotion. The story quickly makes us sympathetic disbelievers in Goldberg's success, however, as female discrimination hinders her from getting clients. What she plans on doing is nothing short of unlikely and strangely entertaining: Making up a wholly fictitious male associate and pretend all of her ideas are his. Her bond with Dianne Wiest, an endearing secretary who eventually starts working for her, enriches their characters as Goldberg finesses between managing her coming-of-renown business now that there is a "man" in charge of the whole thing, and dealing with the anti-feminist preferences of the Investments/Marketing business. When the third act is reached, the star actually has to impersonate the man she has made up...which makes for one of the funniest scenes when sexy stock-broker Bebe Neuwirth tries to seduce "him." Lots of fun.

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.

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

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.