Isn't She Great: 9 to 5
The sheer size of 9 to 5’s popularity is hard to understand almost 40 years after the fact, but it was a monster. It would have easily been the highest grossing film of 1980—if The Empire Strikes Back hadn’t been released that same year. 9 to 5 is powered by the unexpectedly solid comic chops of Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton’s infectious theme, Dabney Coleman’s sweaty swagger, and the mind-altering imagery of Lily Tomlin as Snow White (complete with animated forest fauna conspiring to poison her boss). What’s even more amazing (and frustrating, and honestly, sorta depressing) is how relevant the film still is, and how distant our heroic trio’s dream of equal rights and equal pay remains. 9 to 5 already had bite. Somehow its teeth are even sharper now, and its comedy cuts even more painfully.
by Bobby Roberts