9 to 5 (B+ or 3.5/4 stars)
'9 to 5' (directed by Colin Higgins and written by both Higgins & Patricia Resnick) is an intelligent, office-set, feminist fantasy farce that is aided greatly by the tremendous performances from its terrific cast of Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin & Dolly Parton, who play 3 feisty secretaries who hatch a plan to get rid of their terrible, male-chauvinist pig boss played by Dabney Coleman. This smash hit movie begins with recently divorced Judy (Fonda) re-entering the work place as said secretary in a sea of women who all answer to Mr. Hart (Coleman). She is placed under the wing of Violet (Tomlin), who knows the ins & outs of the office better than anyone.
Violet is up for a promotion, so she puts up with Mr. Hart. Doralee (Parton) is Hart's attractive, buxom, whip smart & sassy secretary, whom the women in the office assume he is having an affair with. The 3 girls get angry with Mr. Hart after he gives Violet's promotion to a man with less seniority, shames & belittles Judy, and Doralee discovers that HE is the one who actually started/spread the rumor of their alleged affair. Before long, the 3 women are bonding over drinks & marijuana. Doralee suggests of Mr. Hart, "Well, I say we hire a coupl'a wranglers to go upstairs & beat the sh*t outta him".
That night, they each have a dream about how they would get back at Hart. And the next day, Violet believes her dream came true when she thinks she poisoned him. This leads to the threesome stealing a corpse from the morgue(!) and, variations of Judy & Doralee's fantasies actually come true. Eventually the 3 women are compelled to abduct Hart & tie him up in his home. They then run the office as THEY see fit; telling people that Mr. Hart is 'here, but you just missed him'. Violet relaxes office rules, while Doralee forges his name on all of the important office paper work. Morale in the office skyrockets, as does productivity and, comedic chaos ensues.
Lily Tomlin is wonderful, here. I loved her fantasy sequence where she is Snow White surrounded by animated forest creatures; her facial expressions kill me. And her best scene occurs where they discover that they stole the wrong body from the morgue. After Judy whines, "Oh, this is terrible. It's so improper. It's so disrespectful!" Violet tries to calm her with "He's dead. He doesn't mind!" Doralee then protests, "That's just great! We just waltz into the hospital & say: we're sorry, we made a mistake. Maybe they'll give us Hart's body in exchange!" Violet's reply, "There is no need to get sarcastic!" Jane Fonda is fun as the clueless Judy. And she must be praised for both spear-heading this film & acquiring the cast that she did.
This was Dolly Parton's 1st film and, she pretty much steals the show. When she yells at Hart, "If you ever say another word about me or make another indecent proposal, I'm gonna get that gun of mine & I'm gonna change you from a rooster to a hen - and don't think I can't do it!" I was grinning from ear to ear because of her homespun, charismatic delivery. Parton was nominated for an Academy Award for writing this film's iconic, toe-tapping anthem, "9 to 5". The sexism on display dates the film to 1980; today, one phone call to their union or Human Resources would've ended Hart. But back then, these women had to do what they had to do, haha. The script gets a bit unwieldy, but its initial concept & the winning performances keep the film afloat.
Violet is up for a promotion, so she puts up with Mr. Hart. Doralee (Parton) is Hart's attractive, buxom, whip smart & sassy secretary, whom the women in the office assume he is having an affair with. The 3 girls get angry with Mr. Hart after he gives Violet's promotion to a man with less seniority, shames & belittles Judy, and Doralee discovers that HE is the one who actually started/spread the rumor of their alleged affair. Before long, the 3 women are bonding over drinks & marijuana. Doralee suggests of Mr. Hart, "Well, I say we hire a coupl'a wranglers to go upstairs & beat the sh*t outta him".
That night, they each have a dream about how they would get back at Hart. And the next day, Violet believes her dream came true when she thinks she poisoned him. This leads to the threesome stealing a corpse from the morgue(!) and, variations of Judy & Doralee's fantasies actually come true. Eventually the 3 women are compelled to abduct Hart & tie him up in his home. They then run the office as THEY see fit; telling people that Mr. Hart is 'here, but you just missed him'. Violet relaxes office rules, while Doralee forges his name on all of the important office paper work. Morale in the office skyrockets, as does productivity and, comedic chaos ensues.
Lily Tomlin is wonderful, here. I loved her fantasy sequence where she is Snow White surrounded by animated forest creatures; her facial expressions kill me. And her best scene occurs where they discover that they stole the wrong body from the morgue. After Judy whines, "Oh, this is terrible. It's so improper. It's so disrespectful!" Violet tries to calm her with "He's dead. He doesn't mind!" Doralee then protests, "That's just great! We just waltz into the hospital & say: we're sorry, we made a mistake. Maybe they'll give us Hart's body in exchange!" Violet's reply, "There is no need to get sarcastic!" Jane Fonda is fun as the clueless Judy. And she must be praised for both spear-heading this film & acquiring the cast that she did.
This was Dolly Parton's 1st film and, she pretty much steals the show. When she yells at Hart, "If you ever say another word about me or make another indecent proposal, I'm gonna get that gun of mine & I'm gonna change you from a rooster to a hen - and don't think I can't do it!" I was grinning from ear to ear because of her homespun, charismatic delivery. Parton was nominated for an Academy Award for writing this film's iconic, toe-tapping anthem, "9 to 5". The sexism on display dates the film to 1980; today, one phone call to their union or Human Resources would've ended Hart. But back then, these women had to do what they had to do, haha. The script gets a bit unwieldy, but its initial concept & the winning performances keep the film afloat.