Movies are a timeless tradition - whether out at the theater, snuggled up at home, or increasingly, while on the move (when was the last time you took a plane ride or train ride and didn't see someone watching a movie?) Movies allow us to escape from our lives and become involved in someone else's story, if only for two hours.
I was talking with fellow LinkedIn influencer Dr. Marla Gottschalk about workplace movies, and we both thought it would be fun to showcase the best workplace and business-related American movies of all time here on LinkedIn, the online home for all things workplace and career-related. Now I'm no movie critic - I'm just an entrepreneur, writer, and, like so many of us, a movie lover. But here are my top 10 - with a clip, quote, and few words about each:
10. 9 to 5 (1980)
This hysterical comedy stars Dabney Coleman as, well, a very bad boss, and Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton as his employees who exact revenge. The movie is a sobering reminder of how women were treated at many companies (and perhaps how some still are).
"I am your employee and as such I expect to be treated equally with a little dignity and a little respect!"
9. Working Girl (1988)
This romantic comedy tells the story of a Staten Island commuter secretary (Melanie Griffith, nominated for an Academy Award) who seizes an opportunity to put together her own deal at the Wall Street investment bank where she works.
"You can bend the rules plenty once you get to the top, but not while you're trying to get there. And if you're someone like me, you can't get there without bending the rules."
8. Up In The Air (2009)
George Clooney stars as a consultant whose job is to travel around the country firing people on behalf of his corporate clients. This movie also introduced me to Anna Kendrick, who plays a younger, bottom-line focused woman who wants to fire people remotely via webcams (and incidentally, with whom my whole family is now obsessed, as the world's biggest Pitch Perfect fans- but that's for another article.)
"The slower we move the faster we die. Make no mistake, moving is living. Some animals were meant to carry each other to live symbiotically over a lifetime. Star crossed lovers, monogamous swans. We are not swans. We are sharks."
7. You've Got Mail (1998)
This romantic comedy stars Meg Ryan as an independent bookstore owner and Tom Hanks as the owner of a large bookstore chain. While it's a fun movie with two great leads anyway, it's interesting to think about the independent bookstore versus chain battle fifteen years later, now that the new battle is Amazon versus any remaining brick and mortar bookstores. Of course, the movie also includes a huge reference to AOL and the beginning of the internet and email.
"Because we're going to sell them cheap books and legal addictive stimulants. In the meantime, we'l just put up a big sign: Coming soon: a FoxBooks superstore and the end of civilization as you know it."
6. Boiler Room (2000)
This drama explores concepts of greed and corruption in business. An excellent ensemble cast takes us into the dark world of a stock brokerage and their cold calling center. At a time today where companies are increasingly using inbound marketing and sales, Bolier Room provides an excellent look at the good, the bad and the ugly in classic sales.
"And there is no such thing as a no sale call. A sale is made on every call you make. Either you sell the client some stock or he sells you a reason he can't. Either way a sale is made, the only question is who is gonna close? You or him? Now be relentless, that's it, I'm done."
5. The Help (2011)
The workplace in this moving drama is the home, as this movie chronicles black women working as nannies for white women in Mississippi in the 1960's. An excellent cast led by Emma Stone & Octavia Spencer, and a memorable story make this movie a winner. Plus, you'll never look at chocolate pie the same way.
"You is kind. You is smart. You is important."
4. Office Space (1999)
This comedy was not a huge hit during its original box office run but has since become a true cult classic. Written and directed by Mike Judge, Ron Livingston stars in this satire of a 1990's software company, worth a view for the printer destruction scene alone.
"So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life."
3. The Social Network (2010)
Famed screenwriter Aaron Sorkin fictionalized the story of Mark Zuckerberg, the founding of Facebook, and its early years in this Academy Award-winning drama. Whether you are a Facebook user or not, and whether you believe this version of its story or not, there's no questioning the fact that Zuckerberg is one of the true entrepreneurial greats of our time and the Facebook story is also one for the ages.
"You know, you really don't need a forensics team to get to the bottom of this. If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook."
2. In Good Company (2004)
In this dramatic comedy, a middle-aged print media salesman played by Dennis Quaid gets a new 26 year old boss and has to adjust to restructuring, a new corporate culture led by bilionaire Teddy K, and a changing advertising landscape. An excellent cast and story make it one of my favorite workplace movies of all time. I still think of this movie every time I hear the word "synergy".
"Seats were terrific. But I'm still not going to advertise in the magazine. My son-in-law tells me that people don't read much any more. Too much effort moving eyes back and forth. So we're gonna put most of our budget into television, radio, internet."
1. Baby Boom (1987)
The top spot for me goes to this comedy. Diane Keaton plays a top female executive in New York who inherits a baby, moves out to a cottage in Vermont, and becomes an accidental entrepreneur. Her baby-food business takes off, and she realizes that city life and corporate life aren't all they're cracked up to be, compared to family life and entrepreneurship. As an entrepreneur also dedicated to my children, I love this hysterical movie and could watch it over and over.
"You see, I can't have a baby because i have a 12 o'clock meeting."
Now it's your turn:
With every Top 10 list, there are many missing. What excellent workplace movies do you think are missing from this list? What movies do you think made the list that shouldn't have? Please share your favorite workplace movies of all time in the Comments section below!
Dave Kerpen is the founder and CEO of Likeable Local. He is also the cofounder and Chairman of Likeable Media, and the New York Times bestselling author of Likeable Social Media and Likeable Business.To read more from Dave on LinkedIn, please click the FOLLOW button above or below.
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