Employment Movies We Love

I watched Up in the Air recently, the latest 21st century take on employment. I liked the movie, which I thought was mostly about loneliness and isolation in the modern world, and only used employment to emphasize the point. It made me think, since I love movies, what are the best employment movies of all time? Here’s my list, but I am sure that I have forgotten your favorite. Let me know where I’ve missed the mark:

10. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying: Robert Morse brings this zany musical to the big screen and exposes the lunacy of the advertising business and Big Business in general. The name of the movie alone earned it a place on the list.
9. Working Girl: Melanie Griffith assumes her boss’ identity (before identity theft was fashionable), and proves that anyone can run a company and steal the boyfriend at the same time. Griffith thinks this is all fair because the boss (Sigourney Weaver) has stolen her idea for a business merger. Petty office politics spun to the extreme. Harrison Ford rounds out the cast, but don’t forget Joan Cusack as the stereotypical NY secretary. She makes the most of a small role.
8. Philadelphia: The most serious movie on my list explores many social issues, but in particular the discrimination that leads to wrongful termination. It’s a movie for any aspiring employment attorney, and Tom Hanks won the Oscar for his performance.
7. The Firm: Have you ever started working for a company, and then come to realize that the leadership acts in an unethical manner? Or perhaps you are asked to participate in the unethical behavior? What do you do to save your own integrity? Hopefully nothing as extreme as going to work for a money laundering mob front like Mitch McDeere did ever happens to you!
6. Kramer vs. Kramer: This movie is on the list for one reason – Dustin Hoffman’s Christmas Eve job interview scene. If you have ever been desperate to get hired, this scene is a must-see. Dustin Hoffman (Kramer) needs to have a job by the end of the day Christmas Eve, or risk losing custody of his son, the adorable Ricky Schroeder. Dustin waits outside the hiring manager’s office for a decision while a 1970s style holiday party rages in front of him, complete with wide ties, big hairdos and lots of booze. “Awkward” doesn’t even being to describe the uncomfortable emotions of the moment, portrayed by arguably the best actor of his generation.
5. Jerry McGuire: Did you ever fantasize about quitting your job with as much bravado and conviction as Jerry McGuire? I think we all have written a Mission Statement about our jobs, at least in our own minds, but have we ever told all of our co-workers “The Things We Think But Dare Not Say”? This movie ushered in the era of the micro-business.
4. 9 to 5: Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, all superstars at the time, team up to make life miserable for their sexist boss, Dabney Coleman. The politics of gender get an extreme comedy makeover, and give life to a hit single by the same name. Hey, they kidnap the boss and torture him – what’s wrong with that?
3. Falling Down: Workplace violence was never so cool. Michael Douglas gets laid off from his Silicon Valley defense contractor position, and snaps big time. How great is it that he is a disgruntled worker and ends up finding a bazooka? This is the kind of movie that should scare an HR person involved in any “reorganizations”.
2. Glengarry Glen Ross: David Mamet’s realistic dialogue and the skills of 4 Academy Award winning actors (Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey) make this one of my all-time favorites. If you are in sales, and have never seen Glengarry Glen Ross, then stop reading now and rent this movie – better yet buy it to watch over and over. You can’t work in sales and not understand that “coffee is for closers.”
1. Office Space: The Granddaddy of them all, the cult classic that has gone mainstream, the movie that has given rise to dozens of quotes that are forever part of the daily work experience. “Did you get that memo?” “Looks like someone has a case of the Mundays.” “So what it is you’d say it is….you do here?” And those are just some of the clean ones.

Enjoy the arguments that only a Top Ten list can spawn, and let me know if I have missed something.

PS - Modern Times with Charlie Chaplin and Tootsie with Dustin Hoffman receive Honorable Mention.