Review: 9 to 5 (1980)

9 to 5

Rating

Director

Colin Higgins

Screenplay

Patricia Resnick, Colin Higgins

Length

1h 49m

Starring

Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, Dabney Coleman, Sterling Hayden, Elizabeth Wilson, Henry Jones, Lawrence Pressman, Marian Mercer, Ren Woods

MPAA Rating

Review

When you take two of the greatest working actors and put them together with a charismatic country superstar, 9 to 5 is sure to be a winner.

Judy Bernly (Jane Fonda), a timid housewife must start a new life in the workforce after her recent divorce. Under the tutelage of acid-tongued Violet Newstead (Lily Tomlin), she begins to come out of her shell in spite of the crass environment of sexual harassment created by boss Franklin Hart (Dabney Coleman) whose own secretary Doralee Rhoes (Dolly Parton), with whom he’s having an affair, feels the need to play into the hostile situation rather than recede into the background. As the three form a fast friendship, a mistaken dosage of rat poison leads them to incarcerate their boss for fear of him finding out of the poisoning and putting them in prison. They use their power to imitate Hart’s signature and his surprise “vacation” to benefit the women of the office, their fantasies of success and failure lead them towards a dangerous and humorous finale.

Fonda, having won two Oscars from five Oscar nominations, could have commanded any dramatic role she wanted but branching back into comedy gave her a chance to stretch her talents and deliver a clever and atypical performance. Judy’s low self-esteem feeds her need to preserve her own safety and fumble through many of the film’s more comedic moments. Counterbalancing her meeker qualities, Tomlin’s Violet is commanding, self-assured and calculating. Her trademark dithering is kept to a minimum but she easily stands toe-to-toe with Fonda. Tomlin had parlayed a string of critical successes into a strong early ’80s comedic burst that saw several comedy successes.

The neophyte of the trio is Parton whose acting chops had not yet been tested. She more than ably handles her part as the self-confident Doralee, giving her the chutzpah to stand up to her lecherous boss and command attention to her surprising skill as an actor. Coleman as said boss oozes sexist tropes that might seem out of place in a film this seemingly down-to-earth but it only serves to accentuate the fantasy sequences that serve as character development in the middle third.

In the landscape of comedy of the 1970s and early 1980s, there weren’t nearly enough with women as the central character, fewer still had multiple women in the lead, so it’s something of a surprise that 9 to 5 even got made. However, it proved that audiences were ready for more films that spoke to women’s issues and appealed to their opinions. With 9 to 5 starting the decade and Steel Magnolias ending it, the 1980s could truly be considered one of the strongest decades for portrayals of and attention to women.