The Associate (1996)

A comedy about making it on Wall Street. Prejudices are hard to break and Laurel Ayres quickly learns that in order for people to take her seriously she has to work for an older white man or be one.

Director:

Donald Petrie

Writers:

Jenaro Prieto (novel), Jean-Claude Carrière (screenplay "L'Associé")

Stars:

Whoopi Goldberg, Dianne Wiest, Eli Wallach

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Laurel Ayres is a businesswoman trying to make it but unfortunately she works at a investment firm where she does all the work but all the senior investors like Frank Peterson grab all the credit. She then leaves and starts her own firm. While trying to find clients Laurel pretends that she has a male partner named Robert Cutty. And when she starts to do well all of her clients wants to meet Cutty which is difficult since he doesn't exist.

---

Plot Keywords:

lesbian subtext | pretending to be someone else | deceptive love interest | women's rights | women's equality | 

---

Taglines:

Behind Every Great Man Is A Woman... Wishing He'd Get The Hell Out Of Her Way.

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Mercedes dealership where Whoopie Goldberg bought her Mercedes was located on the corner of 56th St. and Park Ave. in Manhattan. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was destroyed in 2013 after Mercedes closed that location.

---

Goofs

In the coffee shop scene Sally asks about Cutty and later they leave when Aesop Franklin arrives. The camera positions change throughout their discussion. The spoon in Laurel's cup changes places. Behind her the spoon is in the cup and in front of her the spoon is laying on the table.

---

Quotes

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

---

Crazy Credits

After the credits, there's a brief repeat of an earlier line.

---

Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Rock (1999)

---

Soundtracks

Divertimento No. 15 In B-Flat Major K.287-Minuetto
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performed by Zdenek Tylsar, Bedrich Tylsar and Stamic Quartet
Courtesy of Supraphon Records
By Arrangement with Promusic Inc.

User Reviews

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.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 October 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Associate

Filming Locations:

Knole's Rotunda, Long Island, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,261,304, 27 October 1996

Gross USA:

$12,844,057

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$12,844,057

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hollywood Pictures, Interscope Communications, Polygram Filmed Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1