The Secret of My Success was one of the first movies that Michael J. Fox did after the success of the first Back to the Future and Teen Wolf. With his star power being so high, it is no surprise that The Secret of My Success did so well at the box office. The thing is, this is one of my least favorite 80s Michael J. Fox movies and after watching it again recently, that opinion has not changed, if anything I am doubling down on it.
How to Download The Secret of My Success
The Secret of My Success was released on April 10, 1987. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice.
The Movie Review
Do not get me wrong, Michael J. Fox is as charming as his 80s self usually is. However, the story of The Secret of My Success is kind of all over the place and the tone is pretty erratic. It goes from slapstick comedy, racy comedy, and corporate drama and never commits to one style and as a result, it makes the movie kind of hard to get into. I would not say that it is flat-out bad, but it is not all that good either.
I do like the hustle and bustle of New York in the 80s setting, that and 80s Helen Slater are my favorite things about the movie. Michael J. Fox plays the role of a hot shot graduate called Brantley who has just moved to New York to start a corporate job. However, the company he was set to work for has just been bought out and he is fired before even working a day there!
Brantley’s Struggle and Double Life
Brantley finds out that living the good life in the city is hard and he is turned down by many jobs and women, before going to a distant uncle who runs a company in the city. Brantly gets hired by his estranged uncle, but only as a mailroom guy. Brantley takes this opportunity and soon realizes that his uncle’s company is being run into the ground by bad decision after bad decision.
This leads Brantly to set up an office in an abandoned room and call himself Carlton. As Carlton, Brantly works as a top exec at the company and makes some very smart decisions. However, he also has to keep working in the mailroom so he is living this double life at the company. I think the premise here is fun, but the movie never commits to one style so you never really know how to take the things that are happening.
Romantic and Personal Chaos
Oh, Brantly’s personal life also gets thrown into chaos too. He meets a hot executive, played by Supergirl, Helen Slater and he falls for her, but she is having an affair with his uncle! If that is not weird enough, his aunt, whose father created the company he is working at, starts hitting on him. The whole romance/relationship part of this movie is a freaking mess and it really takes me out of it.
The Secret of My Success has some charm and potential, but it never lives up to either. There are some funny moments and it has a solid cast, but the failure to stick to a tone hurts the movie. I have certainly seen worse, but if I were ranking the Michael J. Fox movies, this one I think would be quite close to the bottom of my list.
