Le secret de mon succès

I assume it was the proliferation of Yuppies and the Me,Me,Me Age that was responsible for the numerous 80s movies about the cutthroat corporate life. 'Baby Boom' and 'Working Girl' are other titles that come to mind.

The Secret of My Success is a charming movie, though sometimes not a very funny one. As one viewer wrote, it is likely Michael J. Fox's innocent good-natured character that drives what might otherwise be only a mildly amusing movie. Margaret Whitton and John Pankow (had he not said 'suits' so many damn times) are pleasing secondary characters as well, and a much needed counterbalance to the obnoxious characters that Helen Slater and Richard Jordan portray.

Brantley Foster (Fox), fresh off the Kansas farm, learns the harsh reality of a business graduate's life when he travels to New York expecting to become the next CEO of some company. Nevermind find a job, he can't even seem to get past the interview stage, with one rejection after another. And these are some of the funniest lines in the films. Especially, when Brantley asks his interviewer how he can get hard-nosed business experience if no one will hire him. "If we hired you to get experience, you'd take that experience and get a better job. If you'd joined our training program right out of high school, you would've had a job today." Brantley asks, curiously, "Why did I go to college." The interviewer laughs, "You had fun, didn't you?"

Brantley decides to dial up some unknown uncle Howard, hoping to get a job with his company in his last resort. And his first impression work, landing him a job in the mailroom. But Brantely has his sights on bigger, better things, and uses his newfound position to establish his plan. That is, he is going to be the new great employee at Prescott's employee, but as Carlton Whitton, a business mastermind.

Trying to run one life is hard enough, and many comedic mishaps arise when Brantley tries to maintain his own life and pose as Carlton Whitton on a near full-time basis as well. He has trouble separating the two, when he has to keep hiding Carlton Whitton from his uncle Howard, who obviously knows who he is. He simultaneously has to hide his true identity from a fellow coworker that he falls in love with (Helen Slater). Add to the mix that Howard is having an affair with Christy (Slater) and asks her to spy on Cartlon Whitton because he suspects a spy within his company during rumors of a hostile takeover. Can Brantley keep up with it all? It is the only way to prove to anyone that he's not some dumb college kid. His success depends on it.

The movie is kind of funny, and pretty dated. Sometimes Fox's character is too charming. He never seems to get too angry, even after figuring that some people in the company were trying hard to screw him out of his job (both as Carlton and as Brantley). But, his charm and some of those strange mishaps (the sequence with the four characters at the townhouse sneaking around at night is a nice arrangement) keep the movie going. Best recommended for 80s fans or Michael J. Fox fans who would mostly likely be immune to some of the films flaws.

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.

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.

Okay, Michael J. Fox stars as a Midwestern college graduate who moves to New York City to conquer the business world. He is completely unprepared as Brantley Foster. He is so desperate that he contacts a distant cousin, Richard Prescott, for help breaking in to the business world of New York City. Along the way, he meets his aunt Vera Prescott, played by the delicious Margaret Whitton who really steals the show in this role. He also falls in love with Christy Wills who works there and is played admirably by Helen Slater. John Pankow plays the guy in the mail room who helps Brantley. The cast is first rate but the writing is somewhat mediocre material. It's a good entertainment with a first rate cast and the scenes in the country are quite beautiful.

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.