Plot

When a secretary's idea is stolen by her boss, she seizes an opportunity to steal it back by pretending she has her boss' job.

Tess McGill is a frustrated secretary, struggling to forge ahead in the world of big business in New York. She gets her chance when her boss breaks her leg on a skiing holiday. McGill takes advantage of her absence to push ahead with her career. She teams up with investment broker Jack Trainer to work on a big deal. The situation is complicated after the return of her boss.—Sami Al-Taher <staher2000@yahoo.com>

Tess McGill is a hard working young woman who is determined to reach the top of the stockmarket world by hard work but as she turns 30 she is stuck in secretarial work so when she starts working for Katherine Parker she is glad that Katherine is willing to accept input and ideas from her. However when Katherine goes on holiday and breaks her leg she asks Tess to look after things and this causes Tess to discover that Katherine is going to pinch her big idea that would save a large company from a a foreign takeover. Enraged that her boyfriend is also cheating on her, Tess sets out to do a deal by using her idea herself while Katherine is away. She teams up with Jack Trainer to close the deal before Katherine's return and the two slowly fall in love little knowing that Jack is Katherine's boyfriend...—Lee Horton <Leeh@tcp.co.uk>

Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith) is a 30 years old, working-class stockbroker's secretary from Staten Island with a bachelor's degree in business from evening classes. She dreams of an executive position. Her boss and male co-workers at the stockbroker firm in lower Manhattan where she works as a secretary treat her like a bimbo, even though they benefit from her intelligence and business instincts. Tess has been rejected several times in her attempt to get into the associate training program, saying that she is up against Harvard and Wharton graduates.

Tricked by her boss David Lutz (Oliver Platt) into a date with his lascivious colleague Bob Speck (Kevin Spacey). David tells Tess that Bob is looking for a new secretary, but Bob only wanted to get Tess into bed. Tess walks out on Bob and then she gets into trouble by publicly insulting David in his office. She is reassigned as secretary to a new financial executive, Katharine Parker (Sigourney Weaver) a young associate in Mergers and Acquisitions. Tess is told that this is her last opportunity as she has been reassigned thrice already. Katharine is younger to Tess, and she is the first female boss that Tess had had.

Seemingly supportive, Katharine encourages Tess to share ideas. Tess suggests that a client, Trask Industries, should invest in radio to gain a foothold in media. Tess says that there a lot more radio stations for sale, and Trask can learn the business in radio and then move into TV, rather than moving straight into TV, as that's what everyone else is also trying to do.

Katharine listens to the idea and says she'll pass it through some people. Later, she says the idea wasn't well received. But when Katharine breaks her leg skiing in Europe, she asks Tess to house-sit, and Tess discovers Katharine plans to pass off the idea as her own. At home, Tess finds her boyfriend Mick Dugan (Alec Baldwin) in bed with another woman. He attempts to reconcile and proposes marriage, but she responds ambivalently, and they end things

Disillusioned, she returns to Katharine's apartment and begins her transformation. With her boss away, Tess decides to use Katharine's connections and clothes to move ahead with her merger plans. With the help of her friend Cynthia (Joan Cusack), Tess cuts her hair and borrows Katherine's stylish clothing to look more professional.

Tess schedules a meeting with Jack Trainer (Harrison Ford), a mergers and acquisitions associate from another company using her boss's name as an entree. The night before, she attends a dinner on Katharine's behalf, hosted by Trainer's firm in an attempt to say hello prior to their meeting. Before the party her friend Cynthia gives her a Valium from Katharine's bathroom when Tess suffers a panic attack.

Trainer is attracted to and approaches Tess at the bar but does not reveal his name, even after she inquires whether he knows a Jack Trainer. Tess eventually leaves and he follows, taking her back to his apartment after she passes out in a cab from a combination of Valium and alcohol.

Tess leaves early the next morning, believing them to have slept together, to attend her meeting with Trainer and is surprised to see he is the man from the previous night. They both feign non-recognition. Although Tess lacks confidence during the meeting with Trainer and his associates and leaves thinking it was a failure, Jack soon arrives at her office, telling her they did not sleep together and that he wants to move forward with her idea. Days later, Tess and Jack gatecrash Trask's (Philip Bosco) daughter's (Barbara Garrick) wedding and pitch their plan. Trask is interested and a meeting is set up.

Together, they prepare the financial for the merger proposal, and they give in to their attraction, ending up in bed. However, Tess is tempted to confess the truth about the idea's origins, but she demurs after discovering Jack is also involved with Katharine, whom he planned to break up with before her injury.

Katharine returns home on the day of the merger meeting, and while Tess is helping her get settled, Katharine brings up the Trask merger, saying she was intending to take it to Jack and give Tess credit eventually, but was restricted due to Jack's strict ethical code preventing him from looking at other's work without verifying the source after being accused of stealing himself.

Jack eventually arrives to end things with Katharine. Tess overhears Katharine asking Jack to confirm his love for her, but he avoids answering and hurries out. Tess also rushes off, leaving her diary, which Katharine reads leading to Katharine discovering Tess's deception.

At the meeting, Tess asks Jack whether he has such an ethical code, and he denies this or that he was ever accused of stealing. Katharine confronts Tess during the meeting, outing her as her secretary and accusing her of stealing the idea. Tess feels she cannot defend herself and leaves, apologizing profusely.

Days later, Tess is clearing out her desk when someone bumps into her, spilling all her notes and supplies on the floor. While picking them up in front of the elevator, Jack, Katharine, and Trask arrive. Tess confronts Katharine and starts to tell her side of the story. Katharine tries to lead the group away, but Jack says he believes Tess. When Trask hears a convincing tidbit, he hops off the closing elevator with Katharine and onto an elevator with Jack and Tess. They then convince Trask that the move into radio was Tess's idea, showing him materials. Trask confronts Katharine, asking her how she came up with the idea. She stumbles and is fired. Jack and Tess embrace and start a relationship.

Trask offers Tess an "entry-level" job with his company. Tess starts her new job, armed with a lunchbox prepared by Jack. Directed to an office, she sees a woman on the phone, assumes she is her new boss and seats herself in the typing pool. The woman Alice Baxter (Amy Aquino) reveals she is, in fact, Tess's secretary. Tess insists they work together as colleagues, showing she will be very different than Katharine. She then calls Cynthia from her office overlooking Manhattan to say she's landed her dream job.