The Secret of My Success --- Movie Review

I have been on a weird 80s kick lately so I've been watching a lot of the movies I loved from that decade. The latest one to grace my DVD player was "The Secret of My Success" starring Michael J. Fox.

I have owned this movie for years but it's not one I play very often. I think I'm going to have to rethink that because I spent most of the movie laughing out loud, which annoyed my son a little bit. I sometimes forget how funny Michael J. Fox was and how boyishly charming he could be.

The basic premise of the movie is this, I will take it off the back cover.

Can a kid from Kansas come to New York to conquer the business world and maneuver his way from the mailroom to the boardroom in a matter of weeks? Michael J. Fox proves it can be done in this very funny lampoon of corporate business life. Fresh out of college, he's determined to climb New York's corporate ladder in record time by masquerading as an up-and-coming executive, even though he's really the new mail boy. However, Fox's plans begin to go awry when the boss's wife falls in love with him and he falls in love with a junior executive, who also happens to be the boss's mistress.

Now that I've typed this little blurb I can honestly say it in no way does this movie justice. Fox plays Brantley Foster, who moves to New York City with the promise of a job. The first day he shows up he is laid off due to the company being acquired in a hostile takeover. He then goes from company to company and being rejected over and over again. He is either too qualified, under qualified, and finally is told he needs to be a minority woman in order to get the job.

Under duress (lack of money) he goes and asks his "uncle" through marriage for a job. His Uncle Howard Prescott, played by Richard Jordan, runs a multinational corporation and sticks Brantley into the mailroom. The first day he is told to drive a executive's wife, played by the wonderful Margaret Whitton, to her house where he ends up being seduced in the pool room. When the woman's husband shows up he realizes he just slept with his "aunt" Vera Prescott, wife of Howard Prescott.

The rest of the movie revolves around two different story lines. The first is the love quadrangle of Howard, Vera, Brantley, and Christy Wills (played by Helen Slater). Christy is the mistress of Howard and ends up falling for Carlton Whitfield.

Who is Carlton Whitfield you may ask? Well I'll tell you. Carlton is the alter ego of Brantley. Carlton is a young up and coming junior executive who has plans on saving the company from a hostile takeover. This brings us to the second plot line. Brantley living a double life, within the company. One as a mailroom clerk the other as a executive who changes his clothes in elevators and his office way too much for his secretary to understand.

As you can guess the two plot lines bring along plenty of laughs and awkward situations. If you like plenty of laughs and the good guys winning in the end, watch this movie. You won't be disappointed.

Besides how can you not like a movie that includes the song "Walking on Sunshine" from Katrina and the Waves?