Working Girl

R

Released Dec 21, 1988

1 hr. 53 min.

Romance

Comedy

List

83%

48 Reviews

Tomatometer

67%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Savvy New York City receptionist Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith) gives her conniving boss, Katharine Parker (Sigourney Weaver), an excellent business tip, but Katharine simply steals the idea without giving due credit to her secretary. After Katharine winds up in the hospital with an injured leg, Tess decides to exact revenge. Pretending to be her boss, Tess initiates a major deal with an investment broker (Harrison Ford) -- but things turn ugly after Katharine finds out what Tess has been up to.

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Critics Consensus

A buoyant corporate Cinderella story, Working Girl has the right cast, right story, and right director to make it all come together.

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David W

Cinematically, Working Girl captures the beauty of Lower Manhattan while also showcasing late 1980s zeitgeist like few others. Fundamentally a comedy, the story is also uplifting. It promises that even quiet, mousy characters can make it with talent, honesty, and a little gumption and that bad people will be punished for their misdeeds in the end. It features a noteworthy theme song and a cast that has become more star-studded with time. I would definitely watch this again.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/05/24

Full Review

James B

Entertaining flick but jesus the women in this film - the hair and makeup, WTF?! The 80s had some great gifts but the fashion was not one of them for me. 😅

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/02/23

Full Review

s c

Melanie Griffith carries this enjoyable underdog film beautifully. Her best performance IMO.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

isla s

This is very much a dated film. Its categorised as a comedy, a rom com I think but I didn't find it funny. Watching pervy men flirt with an 'ambitious secretary', nah, not my thing. Sigourney Weavers character, Katharine Parker, was probably the most stand out, if any. I don't think Tess was a character I found it easy to feel too sorry for, even though its clear she's subject to a certain amount of misogny. The female stereotypes are too cheesy and annoying and the chemistry with certain cast members didn't feel or seem especially genuine, so it didn't really work. Oh and also, some of the dialogue was a bit hushed, which I find frustrating. I wouldn't recommend it, no.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Mike Nichols was an elite filmmaker that specialized in balancing mature comedy, classical drama and questionable romance. With 'Working Girl' Nichols' touch is completely absent in the screenplay and it's clearly a loose adaptation of the Cinderella archetype/story. That's where the film doesn't exceed beyond the common romcom fare found in the 80's.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

There's a type of hollow plot that's always recycled in cliché movies over and over again. This movie has this plot, except it fills the hole in the donut. The smaller complexities within the plot turn it all around into a decent lighthearted story. And I bet Working Girl was quite the progressivist picture back in its time.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

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Mike Nichols

Director

Melanie Griffith

Tess McGill

Harrison Ford

Jack Trainer

Sigourney Weaver

Katharine Parker

Alec Baldwin

Mick Dugan

Joan Cusack

Cyn

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Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

Whether intentional or not, Wade composed a story of metamorphosis and rebirth that transcends gender stereotypes.

Rated: 4/4

Jan 25, 2024

Full Review

David Denby

New York Magazine/Vulture

Just as most of us would agree that it's better to be the boss than a secretary, it's also better to be slick than dull. Shallow at it is, Working Girl is the most entertaining American comedy of 1988.

Aug 4, 2022

Full Review

Richard Corliss

TIME Magazine

How will the working class be educated to survive and thrive in the computer age? This intoxicating movie has an answer: let her strut her outer-borough wisdom from Wall Street to the Pacific Rim. Watch her fatten portfolios as she melts hearts.

Jan 13, 2010

Full Review

Zita Short

InSession Film

If Mike Nichols had just stayed in his lane, we wouldn’t have gotten something that was so lightweight and ineffective.

Feb 3, 2023

Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

Elegant, sophisticated, frigid, and hot. A nostalgic reminder, between champaign and vision, of the fine delusions of Carey Grant, Irene Dunne, and Myrna Loy in the thirties. [Full review in Spanish]

Jun 15, 2022

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

A buoyant, emotionally gratifying underdog story, one that manages to be touching despite any of its minor follies

Rated: 4/5

Oct 29, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

Savvy New York City receptionist Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith) gives her conniving boss, Katharine Parker (Sigourney Weaver), an excellent business tip, but Katharine simply steals the idea without giving due credit to her secretary. After Katharine winds up in the hospital with an injured leg, Tess decides to exact revenge. Pretending to be her boss, Tess initiates a major deal with an investment broker (Harrison Ford) -- but things turn ugly after Katharine finds out what Tess has been up to.

Director: Mike Nichols
Executive Producer: Robert Greenhut, Laurence Mark
Screenwriter: Kevin Wade
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: 20th Century Fox
Rating: R
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 21, 1988, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $62.2M
Sound Mix: Surround

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