Secret of My Success

Contrast this with the movie that might be the one I mention second most in class, "The Karate Kid," and the great scene where Mr. Miyagi explains to Daniel-san that "sand the floor" means a whole lot than he ever imagined. That is the sort of scene that makes an entire movie, and "The Secret of My Success" has a big hole where that scene should be. There are more holes in this film, which allow Brantley to create the persona of Carlton Whitfield, a young executive in a previous empty office (being in the mailroom has its advantages in such a scheme) and provide a fairy godmother in the person of his Aunt Vera (Margaret Whitton). Meanwhile, Brantley (or Whitfield, depending on your perspective), is interested in Christy Wills (Helen Slater), who is introduced in the most erotic display of drinking from a water fountain in the history of American cinema.

This is Michael J. Fox's movie and his engaging performance forgives most of the film's faults in this mindless comedy (mindless in that you will like the film if you mind the holes in it less). Actually, I was amazed to really see how many stupid things happen in "The Secret of My Succe$s," but I still like Fox's performance. If nothing else, this film is a reminder that Fox was a gifted physical comedien. The world of business does not come out looking well, but then it is hard to find too many movies in the past twenty years that make you think kindly towards big business.


It's Michael!   December 9, 2003
John (UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

"The Secret of My Success" owes all its minimal success to the casting of Michael J. Fox, one of the most likable screen presences in all of film history. In "Back to the Future," he was the overwhelmed high schooler who accidentally traveled back in time to 1955 and had to find a way back. In "Teen Wolf," he was the highschooler turned into a werewolf. In "The Hard Way," one of the best cop-buddy films of all time, he was the eager-to-please Hollywood actor trying to do some good-natured research.

All his roles fall back on the Sweet Guy persona. In "The Secret of My Success," he plays Brantley, a Kansas boy who makes the big move to the Big Apple, where he lands a job at his uncle Howard's (Richard Jordan) firm. He gradually makes his way up the ladder as a mail boy, but his real break comes when he is mistaken for a higher-up and tries to woo hard-to-get girl Christy (Helen Slater), a beautiful co-worker of the company who buys Brantley's job position.

Simple premise, but it becomes all the more entangled when Brantley has to run back and forth between different job positions, changing clothes in the elevator and getting in a heated affair with his uncle's wife (played by Margaret Whitton), the kind of lady who doesn't take no for an answer.

The film's amorality is what struck me on multiple viewings. It sort of seems dirty and unclean -- Brantley's a farm boy but he's eager to get in a romance with his aunt. The casual sexuality of the film is what, ultimately, makes it sort of disturbing, and also sort of memorable, as odd as that may sound.

Fox shines in the lead role, and with any other actor the film would simply fall flat on its face. And, to be honest, a film like this could never be made nowadays -- I can imagine Jim Carrey in such a role, but the outcome would be wholly different. The eighties were an entire generation of comedy unto themselves. A lot of people love the comedies from the eighties because so many were made with so little thought and yet a lot of heart, kind of like "The Secret of My Success." Its mediocrity is what drives it, amazingly, but also its heart, and so many comedies nowadays lack the heart of the comedies from the eighties.

I come back to "The Secret of My Success" a lot, probably because I saw it on TV when I was younger and it's been in my head ever since. It's a routine film that's hardly recommendable, but I actually enjoy it a lot the more I watch it, and it has a kind of frenetic comedic energy that most of the films of the genre are lacking nowadays.

The script, by Jim Cash nd Jack Epps Jr., seems as though it were one from an earlier decade. It has a delightful sweetness to it that's simply not unnoticeable.

I understand how many would dislike this film. The critic Roger Ebert gave "The Secret of My Success" 1.5/4 stars upon its inital release in 1987. I can't say I wouldn't have, either, if I were in his shoes. But comedies, over time, sort of grow on you, and this is one of those cases.

It's not as good as "Back to the Future," or "The Hard Way," but it's a lot like Fox's "Teen Wolf" (1985): fast-paced, extremely routine, cliched, flawed, and lots of fun. Don't miss this one, even if it isn't exactly the pinnacle of comedy.