This film has no action scenes, involves a romance, and tells the story of a working class female and her struggle to better her personal and professional life. On the surface the film may seem as though it is targeted towards a female audience, not so! Basically this film is about an underdog and the underdog's desire to better herself. This is something both males and females can relate to. The underdog, Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith), is not pure of heart. McGill manipulates, lies and deceives people to get what she wants. I think all people, to some extent, have done these very same things at some point in their lives. What is somewhat unique about this film is that the underdog has to come face to face with her moral wrong doings. Once she does this she is able to face the reality of her situation and for better or worse move on. Does she persevere and come out on top? I won't tell, watch the movie.
I think Mike Nichols did a fine job of taking a somewhat common story (an underdogs struggle to advance/win), a cast of recognizable but (at the time of the release) non "A" list actors, and a nice but unspectacular song & score and produced a hit movie worthy of all the "Oscar" nominations it received, including a win for Best Song. In other words the sum of the parts was greater than a single part. Some movies boast big names or a great song but the film fails to have the emotional impact or appeal that WG does. Speaking only for myself, I heard "Let the River Run" by Carly Simon before I saw WG and I didn't think the song was all that great. After I saw the film the song took on an entirely new aspect and I loved it.
Lastly, with the exception of Harrison Ford, who at that point in his career had not shed his action hero image, many of the actors in this film were not quite famous. Look for Kevin Spacy as a sleazy would be hiring boss, Oliver Platt who uses his supervisor position to act as a pimp, Joan Cusak reminds us why the 80's are known for "big hair", and a young Alec Baldwin who was busy trying to establish himself as an actor and not passing on his political ideology.
I think Mike Nichols did a fine job of taking a somewhat common story (an underdogs struggle to advance/win), a cast of recognizable but (at the time of the release) non "A" list actors, and a nice but unspectacular song & score and produced a hit movie worthy of all the "Oscar" nominations it received, including a win for Best Song. In other words the sum of the parts was greater than a single part. Some movies boast big names or a great song but the film fails to have the emotional impact or appeal that WG does. Speaking only for myself, I heard "Let the River Run" by Carly Simon before I saw WG and I didn't think the song was all that great. After I saw the film the song took on an entirely new aspect and I loved it.
Lastly, with the exception of Harrison Ford, who at that point in his career had not shed his action hero image, many of the actors in this film were not quite famous. Look for Kevin Spacy as a sleazy would be hiring boss, Oliver Platt who uses his supervisor position to act as a pimp, Joan Cusak reminds us why the 80's are known for "big hair", and a young Alec Baldwin who was busy trying to establish himself as an actor and not passing on his political ideology.