9 to 5 (1980)

The first part is a real hoot as cranky office dictator Coleman regiments his mostly female work crew. Get my coffee, he tells underling Tomlin. Never mind that she's at least his equal in business acumen. Then there's busty Parton whose upper orbs succumb to his scheming as she picks up pencils. And pity newly hired Fonda as she learns the submissive ropes in amusingly jittery fashion. In fact, her bungled avalanche with the copy machine may be the movie highlight. Still, Fonda's transformation from nervous newbie to a rebellious leader amounts, I think, to the movie's core. After all, how many other potential leaders lurk among the suppressed rank and file. On the other hand, I can see why chauvinistic men would despise the movie, funny or not. After all, it's really about women folk learning to assert themselves and their overlooked talents.

The second part, however, loses comedic edge as the girls duel with Coleman in fitfully funny fashion. Looks like the writers were unsure how to develop Coleman's comeuppance. Nonetheless, the acting remains superb, especially from a surprisingly adept Parton and that great bumbling egotist, Dabney Coleman. Too bad the script also appears unsure how to carry out the feminist rebellion that shines so expertly in the first part.

Good to see old timers like the lordly Sterling Hayden and the jowly Henry Jones picking up paydays. And shouldn't overlook Elizabeth Wilson as Coleman's tricky tattletale. She's a wise choice as an office foreman given her stellar performance as a secretary in the Wall Street classic Patterns (1956).

All in all, the hundred minutes strikes me as not only generally amusing, but as a key film in the spread of the women's movement, one that continues even today. So, for those who don't mind a message with their laughs, don't miss it.

Fmovies: While watching Nine To Five, I couldn't help but think about the Billy Wilder classic film, The Apartment. Part of the plot of that film was Fred MacMurray, a more polished version of Dabney Coleman from this film who also used his office and position of authority to behave like a real pig. I thought about poor Shirley MacLaine who tried to commit suicide and eventually found love with Jack Lemmon, but both faced an uncertain future albeit with each other.

Shirley and the other of MacMurray's victims should have seen this film and taken a lesson from Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton who start as strangers and end up as allies and who find a way to get even with Dabney Coleman for using and abusing his employees.

All three women are different, different in real life and playing different types of characters in the film and at the beginning not really liking each other because they don't know each other. Tomlin is the efficient office manger who makes Coleman look good because he takes credit for her work. Fonda is a new employee who had to go back to work because her husband left her. And the beautiful and curvaceous Parton is Coleman's secretary who Coleman is trying to jump her form and the folks in the office think he already has.

But eventually these women make common cause and what they do to Coleman is an inspiration to working women everywhere.

As good as these women are the film would go nowhere without Dabney Coleman who makes a specialty of playing men you love to hate whether in comedy or drama. He's as big a sexist pig as MacMurray and a whole lot funnier.

The supporting cast has some real interesting roles as well. Elizabeth Wilson plays the office snitch and anyone who has ever worked in an office you can count yourself lucky if there are only one of those in your place of work. And they don't have to necessarily be women. I also liked Marian Mercer as Coleman's completely clueless wife. And movie veteran Sterling Hayden comes on in the end as the chairman of the board of the company who in his own earnest, but clueless way settles all their problems.

To Dolly, Jane, and Lily who took action for put upon employees everywhere, we did love you in this film.

I first saw this film as a kid when it was in the cinema. I must have watched it more than a few dozen times since then. As a kid I simply loved the comedy, and the way our three heroes triumph over the Boss from Hell. As an adult I've found it's a great way to cope after a terrible day at work: beer, pizza and 9 to 5. When you've got the Boss from Hell, then this movie is your fantasy. I feel like I'm getting revenge on my boss from the comfort of my own home!

Parton, Fonda and Tomlin make a fantastic team. There is obviously an incredible chemistry at work between them. Along with Dabney Coleman they play their fantastic characters to the hilt, right up to the edge of "over the top" without actually jumping off. At the same time the dramatic moments in the film fire up their (and our) sense of outrage at the conditions they must work under, giving the story a kick along at exactly the right moments.

Apart from being horrendously funny, it is a stark reminder of what sort of conditions prevail in a workplace without a union to represent staff. I've been working for 14 years now and spent many years as a trade union delegate in my workplace. So much has been gained in the last 20 years that it is now not uncommon to encounter young, naive employees with no idea of history, asking "So, why should I join the union? What's the union ever done?". Look at this movie, look beneath the comedy, and see exactly what a workplace can be like without a union.

9 to 5 fmovies. Three miserable women (Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda) take it upon themselves to get back at their evil boss (Dabney Coleman) in this hilarious little film. Rat poison, crazy dream sequences and S&M-styled equipment are the main calling cards in this amazingly creative little comedy. Parton's title song is also strong and it received an Oscar nod in 1980. Impressive comedic fare. 4 stars out of 5.

This has to be a true classic movie for anybody. Parton, Fonda, Tomlin play the three main characters set in a big business office block, "Consolidated". Dolly Parton is excellent, portraying the country girl, Jane Fonda as the divorced housewife's first job role, and Lily Tomlin as the bosses stepping stone. The film is full of one line crack jokes which can be missed on the first time you watch it. Do watch the movie a few times, and soon you'll pick up on how funny the lines are "Violet, did you get my Memo?", "I did Roz, I tore right through it".

Later in the film the plot is well underway and animation is combined successfully with Tomlin's scene of a Snow White type character!

I loved this film, and my laserdisc copy is always on the top of the pile. A good all rounder to be watched over and over, and I sometimes find myself using those punch lines.

Dolly Parton provides the "9 to 5" opening music, which sets the movie off to a good pace.

I first saw this movie on HBO around 1981. Now, as I re-watch it again for the 20th time, it still has me laughing at all the hysterical lines, "....change you from a rooster to a hen....", "....gruesome but cute....", "It looks just like Skinny & Sweet....I might as well save them the trouble and give them the rat poison....", and all the rest of this wildly funny movie.

This movie is timeless. Including all the actors who are the perfect choice for this movie.

This comedy is a definite 10 out of 10!!!!