The Associate (1996)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Donald Petrie

Writers (WGA):

Jenaro Prieto (novel)
Jean-Claude Carrière (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 October 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

It's a man's world...until October 25.

Plot:

A comedy about making it on Wall Street. Prejudices are hard to break and Laurel Ayres quickly learns...

Plot Keywords:

Business | Businesswoman | Gender Disguise | Christmas | Remake Of French Film

Cast

Whoopi Goldberg	...	Laurel Ayres
Dianne Wiest	...	Sally Dugan
Eli Wallach	...	Donald Fallon
Tim Daly	...	Frank Peterson
Bebe Neuwirth	...	Camille Scott
Austin Pendleton	...	Aesop Franklin
Lainie Kazan	...	Cindy Mason
George Martin	...	Walter Manchester
Kenny Kerr	...	Charlie
Lee Wilkof	...	Bissel
Helen Hanft	...	Mrs. Cupchick
George Morfogen	...	Plaza Manager
Zeljko Ivanek	...	SEC Agent Thompkins
Miles Chapin	...	Harry
Jean De Baer	...	Loan Officer

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sensuality and an exotic dance club scene.

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | UK:PG | Germany:6 (w) | Iceland:L | Mexico:B | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #34840) | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Frederic Golchan Productions

Goofs:

Continuity: When accepting the award for business man of the year the award changes from sitting on the platform and in Frank's lap. Also when Laurel is leaving she takes the award with her, but when it cuts back to Frank clapping the award is still in his lap.

Quotes:

Frank: You better be premenstral.
Laurel Ayres: Baby, if I was premenstral, you'd be dead.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Chris Rock/The Wallflowers (#22.5)" (1996)

Soundtrack:

Alabama

Woman Can Make It to the Top Spot but Men Aren't That Bad, Are We?

For me, 'The Associate' makes a decent one-time watch. It starts on a promising note with a female black lawyer trying to make it in the man's world. However, at some point as the plot moves, it fails to engage and it's quite clear what will happen in the end. The point 'The Associate' tries to make is that woman can make it on top but it (perhaps unintentionally) presents the men under a negative light. Some of the male characters are presented as stereotypical chauvinists. There are some funny moments that bring a few chuckles but not much that would make one laugh out loud. The best scenes are the ones with Wiest and Goldberg together. Wiest is adorable as the sweet and smart Dugan and Goldberg is adequate as Ayres. However, Goldberg has played several such roles and done numerous similar movies before and even though she's very versatile, she hardly presents anything new in 'The Associate'. I would like to see more of her and Wiest in better movies.