1st watched 5/9/2007 - 4 out of 10(Dir-Donald Petrie): OK comedy drama with Whoopi Goldberg playing a character reminiscent of the Robin Williams man to woman transformation character, Mrs. Doubtfire, but opposite, of course. Whoopi's character is a wall street investment associate in a firm where the men usually rule the roost. She is up for a promotion to Vice President, but loses it to her partner, primarily because he's a man who knows how to play to the higher-ups wim's. She quits and starts her own investment firm and invents an elderly white male partner named Robert S. Cutter and starts becoming very successful despite the fact that the companies never meet the illustrious Mr. Cutter, but instead Whoopi does all the work, and he's always traveling around the world and never available. Eventually, Cutter has to show himself and what we get is Whoopi in a pretty amazing transformation done by her cross-dressing friend. The transformation is so well done that it's hard to tell that it's Whoopi behind the wig, mask and the rounded-out body. The transformation isn't the problem in this movie, it's just that it has very few opportunities for Whoopi's comedic talents to come thru. Dianne Weist is actually very good in a supporting role as Whoopi's mega-talented secretary and Whoopi isn't bad in her performance with what she's given but the screenplay is very flat and un-inspired. This could have been a good expose on women in this field and how they're unable to penetrate the upper ranks but it doesn't come across that it has any desire to be much of anything which is very disappointing. I'd love to see Goldberg & Weist together again in a better film -- so maybe this will happen someday.
Review of The Associate
