Nine to Five

You might expect 1980's NINE TO FIVE to be a dated affair at this stage, but in fact it remains a relevant anthem for all those souls who punch a time clock and are not recognized for all their thankless tasks that keep everything humming and make their bosses look good.  Even as, in the era of COVID, many fled the office and began working from home, many others still brave the freeways or subways every weekday to eight hours (often more) of a grind that barely makes ends meet.  Co-writer /director Colin Higgins' film is told from a female perspective - and today there remains a gender gap between salaries for the same job.  As well as a lack of proper time off/benefits for new mothers, lack of profit sharing, etc. 

The film is a comedy, often quite silly, but to Higgins' credit the underlying seriousness is never forgotten, even as our trio of heroines - headstrong veteran Violet (Lily Tomlin), newbie Judy (Jane Fonda), and vivacious Doralee (Dolly Parton) share marijuana fueled fantasies of offing their pompous ass of a boss, Franklin M. Hart Jr. (Dabney Coleman).  Understandable, as each has been undervalued and taken advantage of by said pompous ass.  Hart even perpetuates a false rumor that Doralee is providing, um, more than secretarial services.  The women are pissed, yet feel powerless to fight back.

Until one day Violet accidentally puts rat poison (how appropriate!) rather than sweetener in Hart's coffee.  The packages do look the same.  The boss never gets to sip it (his chair malfunctions and he hits his head) but later gets wind of her mistake and threatens to go to the police, unless Doralee actually makes good on her previous reputation.  The women also learn that ol' Hart is up to some chicanery with company stock and soon their egotistical sexist MCP is held captive in his own house until a deal can be struck.  Meanwhile, the ladies make some positive changes to the office that will actually lead to increased productivity!

Many have complained that NINE TO FIVE's second half is weaker than the first, and I have to agree.  Early on the film builds a credible, sadly familiar scenario, somewhat grim but usually leavened with humor, culminating with those wonderfully creative (one even uses Disney-like animation) fantasy sequences.  The plot gears in Higgins' and Patricia Resnick's script tend to grind soon afterward, and believability, so carefully engineered in the early scenes, more or less goes out the window.   The film becomes a wish fulfillment saga that remains entertaining but loses steam, and urgency.   Some of the slapstick works fairly well.

The entire cast is great.  This was Dolly's first movie and she always seems natural and comfortable, and I still love her theme song.  Tomlin will remind you of several confident, acid-tongued women you may have worked with and Fonda nicely plays against type as a somewhat insecure type trying to find her wings after a divorce.   Coleman is just so perfectly obnoxious and cements his title as King of the '80s Movie Assholes, perhaps only rivaled by the likes of William Atherton, John Heard, or Paul Gleason.

R.I.P. Dolly