Nine to Five

Three female company employees wage war against their "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot" boss in this prototype 80s sisterhood comedy, 9 TO 5 is the late Colin Higgins' second feature film and flexes the muscle of female star power which not only brings down the house, but also sets alight its box office, the runner-up top-grosser of its year, second only to STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

The Fonda-Tomlin-Parton trinity embodies three different types of career women, Fonda's Judy is a housewife grossly jilted by her ex-husband for his secretary, so she is the greenhorn in the workplace, prissy but not without wits and guts, her frilly entrance is remarkably incongruous with the rest, although her clash with the boss Frank (Coleman) is most tangential among the three, her personal victory climaxed when she blurts out to her feckless ex-husband that being dumped by him is the best thing ever happened to her.

Tomlin's Violet is a widow with a brood of four, the assertive senior office supervisor who has plodded for years in the company, yet the promotion she deserves proves to be unattainable because of Frank's sexism, and aggravated by being ordered about like a servant by him, she has every reason to get back at him; Parton's Doralee (her maiden picture, who also pens and belts out the Oscar-nominated title song), a corn-fed, bosomy secretary repulses the derogated stereotype as a boss-hunting schemer, who is indeed happily married and only humors Frank's advancement for the sake of the job, but in the face of Frank blabbering blackmail, she is the one who is not hesitant to pinion him like a steer.

Truly, the triad enjoys a real blast together, initiated by a joint-influenced brainstorm about how each envisions a scenario to vent their grievance on Frank - here Higgins makes a good fist of genre conventions, whether it is a black-white mob thriller, a lasso-tossing oater or a Snow White animation with a dark spin, all are given a reality simulacrum later in the plot - and hits the mark during their hilarious blunder with the wrong body, although the resultant kidnapping idea is less wholly engaging for its yawning implausibility, not least when the deus ex machina comes about in the form of Sterling Hayden's chairman of the board, publicly asks equal pay to be eliminated from the reform program, which is actually conceived by the triad and executed by forging Hank's signature.

Nonetheless, 9 TO 5 is as delightful and jolly as one can get in a comedy that has something to say but consciously eschews any trace of indoctrination, all three leading ladies are having a field day, but for my liking Tomlin is the one gets an upper hand for her steely nerve and comedic timing; as the antagonist, a versatile Coleman eloquently exhibits shameless wickedness to the hilt, and lastly, Elizabeth Wilson has her own moment as a brilliant tittle-tattler, who perfectly encapsulates the entire farce with a precisely uttered "Holy merde!" to bring down the curtain in the coda.

I can't help but think that if some of the folks churning out the bad-ass "girl power" nonsense of the naughties were to look back at films like this; they might see a clear demonstration of what real girl power actually is... Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton are three working women at various stages of the corporate food chain - presided over by their womanising , parasitic boss Dabney Coleman. Initially suspicious of each other, they unite over some of Tomlin's teenage son's weed and decide to take matters into their own hands. What follows is at times a laugh-out-loud comedy as they manipulate and reek revenge on their hapless, helpless boss. It could never be called subtle, but it does illustrate clearly that wits and guile are more than enough to achieve their aims without the need for long fight scenes; flashing their flesh and/or continuous bad language. The title song isn't bad, ether...

I'll take the blame for this: not only am I forty years late to the party, but I'd also underestimated the star power of Dolly Parton; a natural performer who's integral to the success of this movie. On its own, 9 to 5 is a decent comedy, led by the more-than-capable Lily Tomlin, but Parton infuses her scenes with a bubbly independence that really helps sell the feminist message. Dabney Coleman is the consummate company sleaze, the tinpot schemer helming this faceless conglomerate; ideal for the target of such a workplace revenge fantasy.

In less capable hands, this may have fallen flat. But I enjoyed myself and have a newfound (overdye) reverence for The Queen of Nashville.

"Nine To Five" is one of those classic 80s comedies which was what made the decade so fun as far as movies go. Jane Fonda plays Judy, a recently divorced housewife who lands a secretarial job at a corporate office. Lily Tomlin is Violet, the beleagured supervisor at the office who shows Judy the ropes on her disasterous first day. Dolly Parton is Doralee, a secretary whom everyone at the office thinks is using her - ahem - "assets" to get ahead by sleeping with the boss.

Soon these three become best friends and team up after they've gotten fed up with their chauvinistic and smarmy boss Mr. Hart, played to the hilt by Dabney Coleman. Sure, it does delve into zany corniness, such as the scene where they all get high on pot and share their fantasies about how each of them would like to knock off the boss (the funniest is Violet's "Snow White" coffee one, which uses cartoon animation and live action) or the scene where Violet thinks she accidentally poisoned Mr. Hart's coffee with rat poison and tries to steal his supposed dead corpse out of the hospital! This is the kind of movie where you check your brain at the door and take it for what it is.

There are some great one-liners like the one where Fonda tells her ex-husband, who thinks she's having a kinky S&M affair with Mr. Hart, something along the lines of, "If I want to do M&M's, that's fine with me!" The office they work in is reminiscent of the one in "The Apartment". Three very clever characters, great comedic acting from Parton as Doralee and Tomlin as Violet. Jane Fonda, who I never cared much for, was good as the naive Judy. Sterling Hayden has a great cameo at the end as the "Chairman of the Board". A funny revenge comedy about Every Office, U.S.A.. You gotta love the theme song, too. Most recommended!

This has to be a true classic movie for anybody. Parton, Fonda, Tomlin play the three main characters set in a big business office block, "Consolidated". Dolly Parton is excellent, portraying the country girl, Jane Fonda as the divorced housewife's first job role, and Lily Tomlin as the bosses stepping stone. The film is full of one line crack jokes which can be missed on the first time you watch it. Do watch the movie a few times, and soon you'll pick up on how funny the lines are "Violet, did you get my Memo?", "I did Roz, I tore right through it".

Later in the film the plot is well underway and animation is combined successfully with Tomlin's scene of a Snow White type character!

I loved this film, and my laserdisc copy is always on the top of the pile. A good all rounder to be watched over and over, and I sometimes find myself using those punch lines.

Dolly Parton provides the "9 to 5" opening music, which sets the movie off to a good pace.