The Secret of My Succe$s | | Cast : | Michael J. Fox, Helen Slater | | Director : | Herbert Ross | | Studio : | Universal Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Widescreen | | Released Date : | April 10, 1987 | | DVD Released Date : | March 04, 2003 | | Language : | French (Dubbed), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 19, 2005 | | Summary | Fun, fun, and more fun | Content
 | This is a classic 80's film. It's charming and fun for the whole family. Michael J. Fox does a great job as does his supporting cast. This is no epic movie, no special effects wizard, just a good old fashioned comedy about a man and the search for his dreams. Everyone should see it once. I'd reccommend it to anyone. It's clean and fun. THE PLOTLINE: Brantley Foster from Kansas travels off to the big city of New York after college graduation. He seeks a career in big business. After finally landing a job in the mail room of his uncle's billion dollar corporation, he decides to assume the identity of a big whig in the office to prove his worth and show his uncle he's capable of making great decisions and being an asset to the company. Brantley soon discovers that working two jobs at the same time takes it's toll. It's a classic Clark Kent/Superman situation. After a few key twists and turns, Brantley finds the 'secret' to his success in life. COMEDY. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 17, 2005 | | Summary | Ingenious script and enjoying picture! | Content
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Somehow this film -with the wide perspective of almost twenty years- showed the opposite side of the coin of what Midnight Cowboy meant in the late sixties. The intentions are very similar but the tone in what it is told marks the difference. This is not just a simple comedy it's a fine satire about the insights of the Corporative World.
Michael Fox made to my mind the best role of his career with this portrait of a risky youngster who will face the defying New York City in all the possible angles. His fresh acting style allows him to win as the daredevil employer of his own uncle the President of this huge Corporation. And the story , filled with unforgettable funny situations will define the ambition and the achievement's motivation for reaching the highest peaks the faster he can.
Add besides a smart puzzle hidden behind stage, when in a clear homage to the Graduate he will be seduced by his boss wife, Aunt Vera and simultaneously he got involved sincerely with his aunt's lover. As you know all the main ingredients of a typical mistakes comedy and a fabulous cast made of this film one of the best ten comedies in the eighties, headed obviously by "When Harry met Sally".
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| Rating | | | Date | November 24, 2004 | | Summary | Funny and Entertaining | Content
| I found it interesting that Roger Ebert disliked this movie. This movie is not artistic or well-acted. The situations are ludicrous and unlikely. However, this movie offers well-executed comedy that is highly entertaining.
Michael J. Fox is Brantly Foster, a recent college graduate and the nephew of a business executive and his wife. Foster is intelligent and considers that perhaps Uncle Howard (Richard Jordan) might give him an opportunity in his company. A job in the mail room was not exactly the start that Foster had in mind.
Foster realizes that in a corporation the size of his uncle's that it is easy to do things without anyone realizing what is happening. So Foster sets himself up as newly hired executive Carlton Whitfield. Most of the executives accept Whitfield for what he seems to be. Foster's only significant problems are keeping Uncle Howard from finding out that he is also Carlton Whitfield and keeping his mail room boss from learning that he is not always delivering mail when he should be.
Foster/Whitfield soon encounters beautiful Christy Wills (Helen Slater), a young and highly intelligent executive, with whom he soon falls in love. Just as quickly he also encounters Aunt Vera (Margaret Whitton) and has more than one amorous encounter, before and after finding out she is his aunt by marriage.
With Foster impersonating an executive while working in the mail room, courting Christy, who, unbeknownst to him, is also involved with Uncle Howard, and avoiding Aunt Vera as much as possible, the comedic potential is high, and the movie delivers. Much of the comedy is borderline slapstick, but much of it is also situational.
The highlight of this movie, as with many light comedies of the 80s, is the somewhat cliché happy ending in the face of apparent doom. While you know there has to be a happy ending somewhere, unless you were very attentive it was easy to miss the clues given that suggest what the ending might be.
This movie is one of my favorite 80s comedies. While some critics have treated it harshly, the movie is fun to watch over and over because the situations, while predictable, are well done. Michael J. Fox at the peak of his career always brought a likable presence to the screen and his execution usually brings at least smiles and more often laughs.
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| Rating | | | Date | October 19, 2004 | | Summary | Beware of "Auntie Vera" | Content
| Brantley Foster (Michael J. Fox) new to the city is a young lad out of management school and looking for a job. Luck would have it that his Uncle Howard Prescott (Richard Jordan) runs a big corporation. He gets a chance to work his way up from the mail room.
In the process he encounters his uncle's wife "Auntie Vera"(Margaret Whitton.) She takes an instant shine to him. Soon he realizes that the only way to get to the top is start on a higher rung and takes on the persona of Carlton Whitfield male "Suit". He has a business type interaction with Christy (Helen Slater) a female "Suit".
Then the action starts. There is a "working" weekend in which everyone has a second agenda. To this weekend both Brantley and Carlton are invited.
What are Brantley and Vera cooking up?
Is Carlton getting too close to Christy?
Does someone else have plans for Christy?
Will Carlton meet Brantley?
And who is the "bimbo?"
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| Rating | | | Date | August 03, 2004 | | Summary | Up-tight people with no sense of humor...BEWARE!!! | Content
| This movie is awesome, and there is no denying it. It stars Michael J. Fox. If that isn't enough to win you over, I'm not sure what will. But I'd like to point out this movie's absolutely genius use of the classic 80's movie montage. That's right! MONTAGE! New York City montage no less. To the montage fans all over the world, this movie is the Citizen Kane of montages. Brantley Foster is climbing the corporate ladder, not to mention the fact that he's LIVING 25 HOURS A DAY! Oh, Carlton.....I mean Brantley.....you're my hero. |
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