Whoopi Goldberg is back on the scene and back on the screen and looking more
like Lenny Henry than ever. In The Associateshe plays Laurel Ayres, an
intelligent, sharp-witted investment analyst who is climbing the ladder to
success, but ultimately getting nowhere because she lacks one very important
element, testosterone. It's not so much that she doesn't have balls, but she
doesn't have the right kind. So, what's a girl to do among the wheeler-dealers
of Wall Street when she finds herself in so unappetizing a position? Get all
dressed up and get somewhere to go, of course. After pretending to be her own
male business associate, the financial wizard Robert S. Cutty, her successful
deception unexpectedly necessitates cross dressing in order to successfully
maintain her lucrative and deceptive activities. It may be a drag, but it
seems to be the only solution available. Once the media get their sights
centered on the newest figure and hottest item on the financial scene they
pursue him/her with a vengeance. Goldberg's vision of the character is summed
up very succinctly, "In the film, people start talking about the fictitious
Robert Cutty as if he were real. They start claiming they went to school with
him, or even that they are having a relationship with him, just to hitch their
wagon to this star who is really a paper tiger. They guy doesn't exist -- and
yet people claim to have just had lunch with him." After a while, her life
gets very Lucille Ball and she has to move at such a pace that she doesn't know
whether she's coming or going.
Very enjoyable as pure entertainment, the film misses out on several
opportunities to take the issues of sex and race discrimination sparsely built
into the script and make striking points with them; there's nothing
particularly wrong with this approach, but the producers mustn't pretend that
it does make such points. Director Donald Petrie has done a fine job with an entertaining script.
Dianne Wiest is the seemingly shy Sally, a constantly overlooked
super-secretary who sees a golden chance for herself while simultaneously
helping a partner in the fellowship of women. Tim Daly competently portrays
the sleazeball business partner who might have walked out of another recently
released film with similar characters. Bebe Neuwirth, always wonderful in oh
so many ways, doesn't get enough chance to sufficiently display her various
abilities in this vehicle. Lainie Kazan is Lainie Kazan, this time appearing
as gossip columnist Cindy Mason.
Superb points for the fabulous work of Academy Award® winning prosthetic
make-up artist Greg Cannom for the film (which includes seven layers of
make-up, a fat suit, a bald cap, and three-and-one-half hours of application
time). One can almost imagine Robert Cutty looking into his dressing room
mirror and saying, "I wish Whoopi was here to see this".
Final comments on the film? Don't judge a film by its cover; inside every
successful woman there is a man.
© 1994-2006 The Green Hartnett
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