When this film first came on cable in the 80's, I was still young and it it wasn't that funny to me.
Now, some 18 years later, the first half hour of this film had me in stitches. The rest of the film though..is still pretty much uneven and dull.
First of all, if you can't identify with Big American Corporate and how those companies actually work -- this film will do nothing for you from the start. If you can identify, then after the first half hour you'll loose interest.
When I first saw this film, I didn't have a job and was just getting out of college. Now, I can identify with all the players that are introduced in that first half hour for I can say: I've worked at those kinds of companies.
The backbiting, the moving an Executive out of an office ("I don't give a damn how loyal to the company he is, he's out!"), early stock sales from insider information, the "please don't tell anyone my problem", the two-faced over achieving women in the workplace, the jockying for parking spots, the high blood pressure head of PR/Marketing, its all here..including the "prayer breakfast meeting"(let me just say the company I was at that reflected the prayer breakfast meetings has a rodent as a Brand!). I can't help but laugh about it now, but when you're going through it it isn't funny. This film takes a good insider poke at it all in this half hour. Sadly, that's all there is in this film and it dies a fast death from there.
The rest of the film after that wanders into a "slacker Senator's son tries to make good on the environment and gets the gal" type of thing and that doesn't work for me.
For all out there who are just entering the Corporate workforce from that BA or MBA, the first half hour will give you pearls of wisdom you need to carry as you work "for the next 40 years of your life".
Favorite pearls? Here's one that always makes me laugh:
Executive: "Are you Executive material?" New Guy: "Do you mean I am on the ball? Yes." Executive: "No, I mean, can you kiss ass?"
And:
Executive to New Guy: "If you want to survive, never directly make a decision."
Other than that, you might want to skip this film. So for me, the first 1/2 hour of this film is a 6 on a scale of ten, the rest a 2.
Now, some 18 years later, the first half hour of this film had me in stitches. The rest of the film though..is still pretty much uneven and dull.
First of all, if you can't identify with Big American Corporate and how those companies actually work -- this film will do nothing for you from the start. If you can identify, then after the first half hour you'll loose interest.
When I first saw this film, I didn't have a job and was just getting out of college. Now, I can identify with all the players that are introduced in that first half hour for I can say: I've worked at those kinds of companies.
The backbiting, the moving an Executive out of an office ("I don't give a damn how loyal to the company he is, he's out!"), early stock sales from insider information, the "please don't tell anyone my problem", the two-faced over achieving women in the workplace, the jockying for parking spots, the high blood pressure head of PR/Marketing, its all here..including the "prayer breakfast meeting"(let me just say the company I was at that reflected the prayer breakfast meetings has a rodent as a Brand!). I can't help but laugh about it now, but when you're going through it it isn't funny. This film takes a good insider poke at it all in this half hour. Sadly, that's all there is in this film and it dies a fast death from there.
The rest of the film after that wanders into a "slacker Senator's son tries to make good on the environment and gets the gal" type of thing and that doesn't work for me.
For all out there who are just entering the Corporate workforce from that BA or MBA, the first half hour will give you pearls of wisdom you need to carry as you work "for the next 40 years of your life".
Favorite pearls? Here's one that always makes me laugh:
Executive: "Are you Executive material?" New Guy: "Do you mean I am on the ball? Yes." Executive: "No, I mean, can you kiss ass?"
And:
Executive to New Guy: "If you want to survive, never directly make a decision."
Other than that, you might want to skip this film. So for me, the first 1/2 hour of this film is a 6 on a scale of ten, the rest a 2.