Michael J. Fox, Helen Slater, Richard Jordan, Margaret Whitton, John Pankow and Fred Gwynne star in this 1987 comedy. Fox (Back to the Future) plays Brantley Foster, an ambitious young man from Kansas who longs to work in the corporate world. He heads to New York where things go unexpectedly for him at first. The late, Jordan (The Mean Season) plays his distant uncle, Howard Prescott who is the boss of a company that's on the verge of a hostile takeover and he gives Brantley a job working in the mail room. Soon, Brantley decides to climb the corporate ladder by secretly masquerading as a phony executive on the side and help the company. He also finds romance with female executive, Christy Wills (Slater) whom Howard is having an affair with. Whitton (Major League) plays Howard's attractive wife, Vera who not only lusts after Brantley, but tries to get even with Howard, Pankow (To Live and Die in L.A.) plays Brantley's co-worker, Melrose and the late, Gwynne (The Munsters) appears near the end of the film as businessman, Donald Davenport. I grew up watching this film, Fox & the cast are great in it as well as David Foster's score. I recommend this good 80's comedy.

Michael J. Fox had a string of successes in the 1980s, "The Secret of My Success" among them. He plays a young college graduate from Kansas who tries hard--very hard--to succeed in the cutthroat world of New York business. Fox played a standard character in his movies of this period, that of a young, somewhat naïve guy with a heart of gold and who succeeds despite long odds. Here, he works his way up to the corporate boardroom by living a double life and trying hard to impress his stuffed-shirt co-workers.Richard Jordan plays Howard Prescott, the snarling, autocratic CEO of the company, and Helen Slater plays a young executive to which Fox's character is instantly attracted. Fox's limitless charisma and Jordan's superlative acting keep this movie from sinking fast--without them, this film would have rolled over and died. It's worth watching and has a few good (if somewhat childish) laughs, but Fox and Jordan are the whole show.

Michael J Fox is always a bit of fun and this comedy is no different. However, it hasn't dated as well as it could have but the biggest fault is that Fox doesn't suit all the scenarios that well.He's supposed to be 24, but looks ten years younger. Whilst that's fine when he's the Kansas dreamer and an office junior - even when he's being seduced by the dragon that is 'Aunt' Vera Prescott (Margaret Whitton), but he looks faintly ridiculous when chasing and finally winning the sophisticated executive played by Helen Slater.Michael J is still a dervish of frantic activity and there are some priceless comic moments with Vera. Her husband (Richard Jordan) is slimy and devious and nasty enough to be the controlling big boss. And, of course there's the overall upbeat message about fulfilling one's dreams - if you work hard enough and get the lucky breaks.The movie still says a lot about the '80s boom'n'bust era and the corporate rat-race and there's some great views of New York City. I had seen this movie about ten years ago but it just doesn't quite do 'it' for me now. Hard to put a finger on why so I'm just going to have to blame the scenes with Helen Slater as that's the most obvious fault, to me.Lovers of Michael J however will always love this film and I appreciate that, but for me, it doesn't quite work.

Many strange people come from Kansas and all of them are dreamers like Dorothea. And the way to success is paved with yellow bricks. In this film the dream comes true and the means used to do so are standard in business. One share of women, using them and being used by them. One share of good sound logic and practical intelligence. One share of pure righteous and deserved brutality with the higher-ups who are so narrow minded and egotistic that they don't even see their personal interest. One share of a well developed sniffing device known has a nose that is the intuition of a dog but also the best sanity of a man. And you get to the top. Just use the elevator please and don't get it stuck accidentally on purpose because plenty of people are expecting to use it. And you have the secret of success for a comedy that is nothing but an American Psycho in Hell's Kitchen turned into an unrestricted American Dreamo in Heaven's Dining-room. Very good, very fast, very dynamic, quite convincingly absurd and absurdly funny. Just what we need when we look at the stock exchange and think sub-prime.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines