No, this is not from a John Grisham novel. An ambitious young black woman (Goldberg) tries to establish her own Wall Street investment firm, but quickly finds the business is part of the old boys' club. In order to get anyone to listen to her, she invents a male partner who always seems to be out of the office. This gets her into all sorts of jams. Director Donald Petrie wisely keeps Goldberg ducking and dodging all sorts of sticky situations for the first half, before having her slap on white face and a fat suit to pose as her imaginary partner in the second half. Dianne Wiest is wonderful as her mousy but very bright assistant, and the best parts of the movie are the scenes involving the two women. Bebe Nuewerth has a funny role as a corporate seductress, and Eli Wallach is a wealthy businessman eager to deal with Goldberg's firm but only if he can meet her partner. Tim Daly and Austin Pendleton add to the merriment as, respectively, Goldberg's ex-boss and a Bill Gates type. The movie walks a fine line between social commentary and laughs, and was shot in New York and New Jersey during winter, which gives the film a much more realistic look considering the absurdity of the premise.
Review of The Associate
