9 to 5 (1980)

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Writer/director Colin Higgins (Harold & Maude, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas) serves up an office space comedy starring national treasures Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton as three women who enact revenge on their sexist, egotistical boss (Dabney Coleman). The script works best in the early stages, when the women bond over their mutual misery. High points include their pot-smoking chill session and a series of fantasy scenarios, hunting, hog tying, and throwing Coleman out a high-rise window.

The second half of the movie has trouble finding the right tone as the women kidnap Coleman to keep him from sending them to jail after they accidentally poison him. While it doesn’t get as darkly comic as I’d prefer, and the happy resolution is a bit far-fetched, 9 to 5 is still a charmer with a winning cast that resonates with audiences still seeking gender equality in the workplace forty years later. Dolly Parton’s catchy theme song has lost no luster, either.

Oscar Nomination: Best Original Song (“9 to 5”)