Working Girl

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

One of those entertainments where you laugh a lot along the way, and then you end up on the edge of your seat at the end.

USA Today Mike Clark

Though Weaver is by all accounts (mine included) in the real-life “none-nicer'” class, I've always suspected she might be great as a shrew. She is. [21 Dec 1988, Life, p.1D]

Time Richard Corliss

Intoxicating. [19 Dec 1988, p.78]

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The movie was a major success for Melanie Griffith, sure, but it was as the secretary's boss ... that Weaver combined all of her star qualities, pulled in laughs, and took home an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

A delectable reworking of the ultimate girl's myth, a corporate Cinderella story with shades of a self-made Pygmalion.

Los Angeles Times Sheila Benson

Working Girl is the sparkling success that it is because of the sheer irresistibility of Melanie Griffith. [21 Dec 1988, Calendar, p.6-1]

Chicago Tribune Gene Siskel

Griffith gives the fullest performance of her career; Weaver, the most likable, even though she's the villain of the piece. Michael Nichols directs his best film in years. [23 Dec 1988, Friday, p.A]

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

The film, like its heroine, has a genius for getting by on pure charm. [21 Dec 1988]

San Francisco Chronicle Judy Stone

An amusing trifle. [21 Dec 1988, Daily Datebook, p.E1]

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

Wade, presumably with Nichols's urging and aid, has tricked up most of the picture with plotting that scuttles the realism of the beginning, strangles any serious view of the theme, and ends up ludicrously incredible. [30 Jan 1989, p.28]

Variety Staff (Not Credited)

This is not a laugh-out-loud film, though there is a lighthearted tone that runs consistently throughout, Griffith's innocent, breathy voice being a major factor.

TV Guide Staff (Non Credited)

Funny, touching, and ultimately tremendously buoyant--reflecting the optimism engendered by the short-lived 1980s economic boom—Working Girl is a "feel good" movie with some intelligence.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The movie's basic message is that lying and conniving are perfectly all right - as long as you're a swell person inside, like the pert character we're watching here. Working Girl is a fun movie in many ways - don't get me wrong. [25 Jan 1989, Arts, p.11]

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

The laughs in Working Girl are the laughs of near-recognition - just good enough to make us wish they were much better.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Griffith's talent, energy, and sexiness give it some drive and punch.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

A subplot involving Griffith and first boyfriend Alec Baldwin becomes the-subplot-that-wouldn't-go-bust, and comic scenes sometimes go bankrupt because they just hold their stock too long. Light entertainment like this should zip along like those financial quote boards.

The New Yorker Pauline Kael

Nichols must have a cummerbund around his head: the directing is constricted – there's no visual inventiveness or spontaneity. And in his hands the script has no conviction. [9 Jan 1989]