Search - The Associate [Widescreen] on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Humor Movie Release: 1996 DVD Release: 07/20/1999 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English, French SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 54 mins Studio: Walt Disney Video Members Wishing: 14 Genres: Comedy, Satire, Comedy of Errors, Workplace Comedy

In this comedy, a woman discovers that it's impossible to get ahead in business without a man to guide her -- so she invents one. Laurel (Whoopi Goldberg) is an expert financial analyst with a top Wall Street brokerage; however, she keeps getting passed over for raises and promotions, and she's convinced that no one at her firm takes her seriously because she's a black woman. Frustrated, Laurel and her loyal assistant Sally (Dianne Wiest) open a new firm, but Laurel discovers that her fears were based firmly in reality: male clients don't want to take financial advice from women, especially women of color. So Laurel invents a white man, Robert S. Cutty, to be the firm's top adviser. Speaking on Cutty's behalf, Laurel passes along the fictional man's advice, which her new clients find to be quite sound, and when they stop by to see him, he always manages to be out of the office (and why wouldn't a man so successful be busy?). The ruse seems to work, and soon Laurel's business is going great guns, but an increasingly large number of her clients want to see Cutty face to face, which won't be easy to pull off. However, with the help of a drag queen, Laurel tries to remake herself into Cutty for a night in order to keep her firm afloat. The Associate was based on a novel by author Jenaro Prieto. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Whoopi Goldberg - Laurel
Dianne Wiest - Sally
Eli Wallach - Fallon
Tim Daly - Frank
Bebe Neuwirth - Camille

Donald Petrie directs Whoopi Goldberg in the comedy The Associate, which comes to DVD with a widescreen transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. An English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1 and a French soundtrack has been recorded in Dolby Digital Stereo. There are no subtitles, but the English soundtrack is closed-captioned. Supplemental materials include the theatrical trailer. This is an average release from Disney/Buena Vista. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide