Working Girl = Better than Citizen Kane

Who makes it happen, Tess?

When my friend Rachel and I would have sleepovers it would usually be at her house because (1) she did not have a younger brother (2) there was always a surplus of Campbell's Chicken-Noodle soup at her house and (3) she had the greatest collection of movies ever. This is in the pre-DVD days when video cassettes took up a ton of room, and her family had a cabinet full of them. We would usually watch 80s classics like When Harry met Sally or Say Anything, but our absolute favorite was and always will be the forever-relevant and amazing Working Girl. We both still love it, and enjoyed what is probably our 45th viewing of it when she came to visit me last fall.

My husband - and most men - can't understand why one would love this movie so much. I've been asked on more than one occasion "What's so good about it?". The question should be "What isn't good about it?" and the answer is NOTHING. I firmly believe this movie has everything you could want - romance, corporate intrigue, shoulder pads, and Harrison Ford. For the pathetic people out there who haven't seen it, let me start by telling you that the tag line is "For anyone who's ever won. For anyone who's ever lost. And for everyone who's still in there trying". That gives you just a taste of how truly awesome your life will be once you've seen this movie.

It goes like this: Melanie Griffith (in the one role that does not make me want to punch her in the face) plays Tess McGill, a big-haired Staten Island secretary who is dating the adulterous and greasy-looking Alec Baldwin. She likes to ride the ferry in her scrunchy socks, sneakers, and skirt-suits to her big-city job. She's smarter than all of the men she works with, and after she almost gets raped by Kevin Spacey, she goes to work at a new firm with Sigourney Weaver, who plays the sinister red-suit wearing Katherine. Katherine is full of encouragement for Tess's professional ambition, even going so far as to deliver the truly inspiring pep talk that culminiates with "Who makes it happen, Tess? You do! That's the only way we truly get what we deserve".

As you might expect from the enormous shoulder pads, Katherine turns out to be evil. She steals Tess's ideas and generally messes with her by making passive aggressive comments about her jewelry and big hair. But the joke is on her, because when she goes skiing Tess sleeps with her boyfriend, Harrison Ford, baiting him with the fabulous pick-up line "I have a head for business and a bod for sin". She also arranges some back-room fancy million-dollar deal and makes Katherine look like an total schmuck, resulting in her getting a job and a man! At the end, she goes to her new job, where she has a secretary and an office. She calls her bff Joan Cusack, who - along with all the other secretaries in the world - jumps on the desk and rocks out with her big hair applauding the fact that Tess has made it to the big time. Tie that up with a fantastic Carly Simon song, and do you know what you get? The perfect movie.