Review of Working Girl (2009) by Ben L — 18 Sep 2016

Working Girl is a movie that tells the same old story all over again. I'm sorry to be that blunt up front, but I was shocked this movie was so familiar and derivative, especially since it was nominated for Best Picture by the Academy.

It's the classic tale of a lower-class girl who seizes the opportunity to pretend to be a high-class girl in order to prove herself, and in the process woo a man. Naturally things fall apart and she is forced to come clean even though admitting the lies will result in her losing everything she worked towards.

I wanted so much more from this movie, but it didn't deliver anything beyond expectations. I even thought I might see a strong woman-power message but the women in power positions are shown to be evil.

Also basically every woman in the film, including our heroine, is turned into a sex object with lots of scenes for the viewers of women in their lingerie or less. One positive I can say is that I liked Harrison Ford's performance, and felt like he was in a much better and classier film.

The movie instantly feels extremely dated from the first frame, not always a negative thing, but I was surprised how Joan Cusack and Melanie Griffith basically looked like caricatures of an 80s woman.

The cherry on top of the disappointment sundae was Melanie Griffith in the lead role. She plays Tess in such a meek and mild way that I literally could not buy any of these bold moves she makes in the film.

I wouldn't say Working Girl is a bad movie, or that it's one people should avoid, but it doesn't do anything special or interesting which might be even worse.