Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #104415 in DVD
• Released on: 1998-10-27
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Colour, Dolby, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 111 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Derivative fluff from 1987, The Secret of My Success is made tolerable by its bawdy exuberance and an appealing performance by Michael J Fox, who was still enjoying TV stardom and the career momentum he earned by travelling Back to the Future. Here he plays a Kansas farm boy who dreams of scoring big in New York City... but reality turns out to be brutal to his ambition. When his uncle (Richard Jordan) gives him a mail-room job in the high-rise headquarters of a major corporation, Fox occupies an empty office and poses as a young executive, winning the attention of a lovely young colleague (Helen Slater) and having an affair with his boss's wife (Margaret Whitton). Sporadically amusing as a yuppie comedy and rather off-putting as a wannabe sex farce, the film's still recommendable for its lively cast and a breezy style that almost succeeds in updating the conventions of vintage screwball comedy. Whitton is a standout performer here, so you may wonder why her comedic talent has been underrated, apart from a good role in the first two Major League movies. This may be little more than a big-screen sitcom, but it's not without its charms. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

Customer Reviews

Michael J. Fox is a Suit
Michael J. Fox delivers one of his best performances in this smash comedy hit!It starts with a boy seeking his lifetime goal in New York.He finally finds a job in his half-uncle's company as a mailboy.But things start going crazy as his half-aunt falls in love with him while he has just fallen in love with another hot executive!At the same time, he finds a chance to start from the top as an executive while being at the bottom as a mailboy at the same time!A corporate-comedy of secrets & relationships, The Secret of my Success will keep you laughing from start to end with a great soundtrack!Make sure you buy it!Also, if you enjoy this 80's comedy I recommend you the "Back to the Future" Trilogy starring Michael J. Fox, also avaible at amazon.co.uk!

An absolute classic
This film really sets the pulse racing, a real young kid comes good film. There are moments of pure comic genius along with high drama. An absolute classic, thanks Michael.

The Secret of My Success
Made in the era when every second film seemed to set in a New York office block “The Secret of my Success” takes a whimsical take on the office romance that whilst not being a side-splitter, is quite entertaining.

Brantley Foster is a young boy fresh from the Kansas outback. Leaving the family farm to seek his fame and fortune in New York, his mother gives him the phone number of his “Uncle” Howard Prescott, a successful executive businessman, in case things don’t work out. Soon enough Brantley is throwing himself on Uncle Howard’s mercy and is given a job in the post room of his huge corporation. It doesn’t take long for Brantley to start to extend his horizons past those of the twice daily mail run. He’s assigned to run home one of the executive’s wife one day and needless to say Brantley carries out his duties to the best of his ability. What he doesn’t know at this point though is the wife is that of none other than Uncle Howard.

Just to make matters even more complicated Brantley has designs on one of the other company executives, the very Princess Diana looking, Christy Wills. Unfortunately for Brantley Christy is currently seeing none other than Uncle Howard in a very unorthodox method of climbing the corporate ladder. What follows then is an hours worth of trouserless dashing about the office, a inter-bedroom chase of Scooby-Doo proportions and a boardroom take over of very finest 80’s tradition.

Michael J Fox is just one of those characters that you’d feel really churlish to criticise. He throws his heart into this role and his boyish good looks and innocent charm get him through the more sticky times. He only really gets good support from Margaret Whitton as Vera Prescott and she seems to have great fun with this rather silly film. Helen Slater as Christy and Richard Jordan as Howard aren’t so watchable. Both are rather hammy and more than a little embarrassing at times.

We shouldn’t be too hard on the film. At the end of the day it’s good harmless fun (although none of the characters thinks too hard about leaping in and out of bed with others) and if anything it serves as a good historical piece from the time when people were judged on the size of their shoulder pads!