Il segreto del mio successo

Ok, so maybe some people may call this movie your typical 80's comedy. I don't think so I love this movie. I've seen it many times and laugh at it every time. It's a movie filled with things that you wonder if that could happen, most likely not but hey it's fiction. Michael J. Fox is cute as always and Helen Slater is great as the female lead. It's a comedy with some drama in it too and I love the ending. Rent, watch, and enjoy.

Michael J. Fox is walking on sunshine at the apex of his career success (1987) in this contagiously likable Herbert Ross produced and directed comedy.

Ross brings his prolific success from stage, opera, ballet, movies, and TV to this fun, frolicking and much-improved upon non-musical update of the 1960's Broadway and movie classic 'How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying'.

Herb is a bona-fide Hollywood legend, who over 40 years, worked with some of the greatest in the biz: Ray Stark, Neil Simon, Woody Allen, Mike Nichols, Vivien Leigh, Barbara Streisand, Baryshnikov, Shirley MacLaine, Anne Bancroft, Tom Skerritt, Liz Taylor, Peter O'Toole, Jerry Lewis, Milton Berle, Steve Allen, Steve Martin, Richard Dreyfus, Kevin Bacon, Goldie Hawn, Dolly Pardon, Julia Roberts, Sally Fields, Olivia Dukakis, Sam Shephard, and Michael J. Fox, plus many more.

Few can compare to Herb's Rennaisance-Man performing-arts background as a dancer, actor, choreographer, director and producer. Movies and/or plays he directed and/or choreographed include another 80's classic 'Footloose', as well as The Turning Point, The Goodbye Girl, Play It Again Sam, Protocol, California Suite, Nininski, The Seven Percent Solution, Funny Girl, Funny Lady, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, The Owl And The Pussycat, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Wolf, Inside Daisy Clover, Goodbye Mr. Chips, The Sunshine Boys, Max Dugan Returns, I Ought To Be In Pictures, Pennies From Heaven, My Blue Heaven, True Colors, Steel Magnolias, Boys On The Side, and more.

But 'The Secret Of My Success' is ALL about Michael J. Fox, and Ross choreographs this non-stop comedy romp through the corporate take-over era of the 1980's, that engagingly showcases Fox's comedic acting style - an absolute must-see film for any MJ Fox fan.

This film is definitely weird but a good weird. Read on to find out why.

Acting: The cast is great, all supporting roles and Michael j fox of course is awesome. Very iconic 80s characters being very charismatic and funny. You also really get a sense of fulfillment watching michael rise to the top from being a simple country boy.

Story: Wow what a weird script this must of been to read. It's absolutely hilarious, cringey and invigorating watching this movie unfold. I loved most of the stories direction with the exception of some scenes being quite lack luster and boring.

Summary: Overall I believe this movie is a must watch for a 80s fan or a mj fox fan in general. Definetly a 100% unique plot I've never seen before and a satisfying film to watch.

Except maybe the red lamp on Michael J. Fox's table at his New York appartement: it's totally Seventies.

This movie is a very light, very enjoyable, a veritable document of the upbeat economic spirit that created the cesspool we're currently swimming through. College boy from Kansas arrives at the big city, loses his job before starting it, and still makes it big whilst shagging the boss's wife while he's at it. Great use of Yello's Oh Yeah track. Simply astounding cinematography.

And lots of Texas big hair.

Overall, a flashy, light, entertaining movie. Nuff said.

The eighties, the decade of ugly clothes and hairstyles, bad music and easily forgettable movies. But there is one positive aspect about that decade and that is Michael J. Fox. He's probably one of the few actors who started his movie career at those days who I still admire. He's still nice to watch, especially in light weighted comedies like this one.

In fact, the title "The Secret of My Succe$s" already says enough about what you can expect from this movie (also notice the little dollar sign in the title), but I'll give a short resume anyway. It shows how Brantley Foster, a talented and well-educated young man coming from rural Kansas, goes to New York to find a suiting job and a nice girlfriend. But he isn't very successful, no company wants to hire him, because he doesn't have any experience. Before leaving Kansas for the Big Apple, his father had bought him a return ticket home and his mother gave him the address of his in New York living uncle, Howard Prescott, just in case when he should need some help. But what Foster didn't know is that his uncle runs a multi-million-dollar company. When he pays him a visit, he gets a job ... in the mail room. But then he meets Christy Wills, who happens to be one of the top executives. Believing that the best way to win her over is by posing as an executive, Brantley decides to take a position under the name Carlton Whitfield and of course things soon start to get completely out of hand...

I admit that this movie is as 'eighties' as you can get them. I'm pretty sure that no-one of todays directors would be able to make it exactly the way it looks, because they don't write scripts like that anymore and there are no more actors like Fox. The man that comes closest for this kind of role is probably Jim Carrey, but even then you would get a completely different kind of movie. It's probably thanks to Michael J. Fox, who is really very nice in this movie, that I forgot about most of its flaws. Once again he's the boyish, sweet guy and that's probably the best thing this movie has to offer. If it hadn't been for him, almost no-one would ever have seen the movie or would still remember it because the story isn't special and it's too typical for that time period.

All in all this is a fast-paced comedy full of typical eighties clichés, but it works thanks to Michael J. Fox's performance and that's why I still give it a 7/10.