Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This film is one of the rare achievements in comedy: I can watch this over and over (and I have) and still laugh at the same parts. The jokes never wear out after a viewing or two. That's due in part to the excellent camaraderie between Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton. I simply can't imagine this film without any of those three, for they made their roles what it is and the interractions between the three of them are hilarious. Dabney Coleman as their sexist boss with an extremely naive wife is also hilarious as he gets his comeuppance.
Jane Fonda plays a mousy lady who enters the work force after her husband runs off with his secretary. Seeing her flustered by the photocopier is hilarious and it's fun to watch her transformation into a confident lady who can hold her own (gun) against the boss.
Lily Tomlin plays the lady who's been at the company for a long time and is passed over for a rightful promotion because she's a woman. I love her scene when she schemes to steal a body from the hospital, mistakingly thinking it's her boss's dead body. When she's in a doctor's white coat and a candy striper stops her and apologizes when she realizes she's interrupting a doctor, Lily says, "that's right, I'm a doctor...so why the hell am I talking to you?"
Dolly Parton plays the secretary who uses her God-given endowment to humorous effect. Dabney Coleman can't help to push pencil holders off his desk so she can bend down and pick them up while he gets to sneak a peak. It was this film that has made me a lifelong fan of Dolly Parton because I love how she rebukes her boss by telling him that she put up with his behavior because of the way she was brought up and won't tolerate it anymore and if he messes with her, she'll gladly turn him "from a rooster to a hen in one shot!" I especially loves how she tells him, "I never thought I'd live to say this about another human being, but you are evil, that's right, EVIL TO THE CORE!" Yow! She means business, but it only makes the boss more turned on, so she has to back her words with deeds, thus fulfilling her fantasy sequence.
The dream sequences are hilarious and it is interesting to see the way they each come true. I love Lily Tomlin's Disney-esque dream sequence, the one that causes the most problems. While the movie does veer off in a surprising way, and some might say outlandishly unrealistic, and while one reviewer mentioned that it doesn't end with a "big bang", I think the ending was delightfully ironic. The ladies improved the office environment, no one missed the boss, someone even higher up noticed the improvements and justice prevailed. Beautiful!
I was only a kid when I saw this film in theaters and it has been one of few films where the humor never gets old. Anytime I need a laugh, I can rely on this film to provide them despite the numerous times I've seen it. That's a credit to everyone involved in making this film, but most especially to the three actresses who really play well off each other with comedic brilliance! I'm glad they have released a special edition, as I waited to buy it on DVD for just such an edition. Now the long wait is over.
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