Amazon.com Essentials:
Melanie Griffith had a fling with stardom
in this Mike Nichols comedy about an executive secretary (Griffith)
who can't get her deserved shot at upward mobility in the brokerage
industry. Hardly taken seriously by male bosses, things aren't really
any better for her once she starts working for a female exec
(Sigourney Weaver, never more delightful), a narcissist with a boy-toy
banker (Harrison Ford) and a tendency to steal the best ideas from her
underlings. When Weaver's character is laid up with a broken leg,
Griffith poses as a replacement wheeler-dealer, flirting with Ford and
working on a new client who doesn't suspect the deception. Nichols
brings a lot of snap and sass to Kevin Wade's smart script about
chafing against class restrictions and perceptions. Sundry scenes are
played quite charmingly, especially those of Griffith and Ford's
mutual pickup in a bar and Joan Cusack's championing of Griffith's
crusade. Nominated for Best Picture, Director, Actress (Griffith), and
two Supporting Actress awards (Weaver, Cusack); Carly Simon's song "Let the
River Run" won the Oscar. --Tom Keogh
