Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		2.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

The Associate Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf August 1, 2018

It’s obvious that the success of 1992’s “Sister Act” had a profound effect on the career of Whoopi Goldberg. She was already popular, accomplished all around and an Oscar winner, but the box office triumph of the singing nuns movie created the potential for a brand name, and Disney wanted to keep that magic going for years to come. It didn’t last for long (1993’s “Sister Act 2” was rejected by audiences), but as the 1990s rolled out, Goldberg toplined a few comedies for the studio (with Polygram financing), with 1996’s “Eddie” and “The Associate” acting as a sort of career roof for Goldberg, who was singlehandedly in charge of selling the pictures to the public, with billing demands simply splashing “WHOOPI” on the posters to reel people in. The star was trying to rise in the ranks as a versatile comedic actress with her own fanbase, but with “The Associate,” Goldberg was also trying to sneak in some messages on workplace sexism and patriarchal control of Wall Street and the insular world of New York City business. It’s not an especially effective farce, but watching the film in 2018, and it’s eerie to see how timely the material is, tackling today’s concerns 22 years ago.

Laurel Ayres (Whoopi Goldberg) is a rising talent at an investment banking company, but her path to success is blocked by her subordinate, Frank (Tim Daly), who steals a promotion using Boys Club tricks and connections, icing the better employee out of her career. Quitting out of frustration, Laurel tries to establish her own business out of her home office, struggling to catch the attention of the old guard in charge of money dealings, including Fallon (Eli Wallach). Desperate and dismayed with others dismissing her because she’s a woman, Laurel invents a powerful but enigmatic partner in Robert Cutty, an older white man she creates a reputation for, dazzling the industry with her smarts funneled through his gender. Joined by stymied administrative assistant Sally (Dianne Wiest), Laurel begins to take over the system with her wheeling and dealing, using Cutty to make her mark. However, the larger Cutty’s presence grows around town, the more gossip columnist Cindy (Lainie Kazan) and Frank want to meet with the mystery man, digging into the details of his fake life to learn more, panicking Laurel, who isn’t prepared to debut her made-up mogul.

“The Associate” is a remake of a 1979 French comedy, but the update has been changed to address gender divide, putting Laurel in a situation where she’s judged constantly by her male co-workers and the banking industry itself, growing irritated after years of complacency. The screenplay by Nick Thiel does a satisfying job identifying such casual hostilities, with Frank a cartoonish creation, but a realistic one who’s handsy with his assistants and ignorant of personal comfort, at one point charming potential clients by bringing them to a strip club, forcing Laurel to try and do some business while dancers gyrate on stage, meeting a colleague (a then-unknown Allison Janney) who’s been numbed to the process, openly discussing her desire to buy bigger breasts to get ahead in life. “The Associate” isn’t taking a scalpel to sexism, but it does a decent job creating a breaking point for Laurel, who can’t get ahead because she’s a woman, not because she can’t do the job, forced to go to extreme measures just to be noticed by the male-dominated world of Wall Street.

Director Donald Petrie (“Grumpy Old Men,” “Miss Congeniality”) is trying to make a comedy with “The Associate,” so depressive extremes concerning misogyny are shooed away for a lighter plan of attack. Laurel hastily invents Cutty to get her foot in the door and build up her business, but the bulk of the screenplay explores the frantic planning and covering required to sell the illusion of a man in charge. Goldberg is most effective here, with Petrie using the star’s natural way with timing well, giving the first half of the picture some zip and degrees of appealing anxiety, watching Laurel juggle demands for Cutty when her handling of a bankrupt tech company is viewed as pure brilliance, only she doesn’t receive credit for the save. “The Associate” does just fine with mild madcap coverage, and chemistry between Goldberg and Wiest is terrific, with the beloved character actress emerging as the film’s MVP, bringing the right mix of bewilderment and authority to make Sally’s partnership with Laurel the highlight of the movie.

Additional mischief is provided by Charlie (Kenny Kerr), one of Laurel’s tenants who’s a professional drag queen, with Barbra Streisand his top makeover. “The Associate” also has some fun with Laurel’s plate-spinning to achieve client attention, learning about golf and misdirection to keep the Cutty illusion alive, which eventually triggers Frank’s downfall, captured in a scene where Donald Trump drops him as his lunch date to join the Cutty pursuit. Because in 1996, that was the worst fate imaginable.

The Associate Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Going by the world of "The Associate," the AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation is probably not a stock one should invest in. Making its HD debut, the viewing experience is flattened by age, with Kino Lorber utilizing an older master for the Blu-ray, resulting in overall softness that loses fine detail, with most textures only reserved for extreme close-ups. Dullness dominates, including colors, finding primaries uninspired, only perking up around extreme Christmas hues. Cityscapes retain their colder appearance, and skintones are slightly bloodless. Delineation isn't profound, but merely functional. Source is in good shape, without any pronounced damage.

The Associate Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio options for "The Associate," with the default being a 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix. The track isn't powerful, requiring a significant boost in volume to bring it up to cinematic levels, and dimension isn't always convincing. It's a frontal listening event, making limited use of surrounds, which offer no separation, merely pushing out music and atmospherics. Dialogue exchanges are intelligible, but a tad too quiet at times. Scoring is mild but instrumentation is appreciable, and soundtrack selections are adequate. While more of a bluntly arranged track, the 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix is agreeable, delivering a heartier feel for performances and ambiance, while music handles with a pronounced thump.

The Associate Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Theatrical Trailer (1:50, SD) is included.

The Associate Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The second half of "The Associate" becomes more exaggerated as Laurel realizes she can't escape her Cutty destiny, going to Charlie for the ultimate drag transformation, which turns the black woman into an old white man who looks exactly like Marlon Brando. Things gets fairly silly from this point on, including a scene where Laurel-as-Cutty uses a bottle of mouthwash to simulate urination in a bathroom to blend in with the guys, and there are sitcom-style machinations from Cindy and Frank that only bloat the already taxing run time, while a subplot featuring Fallon's marginalized assistant, Camille (Bebe Neuwirth), faking a pregnancy with Cutty never meets its potential. "The Associate" doesn't know how to end, and it takes a very long time to get there, trusting in anemic slapstick and superfluous encounters when it has something passably smart and sharp in Laurel's mission to claim identity through subterfuge, resting comfortably on Whoopi Goldberg's well-honed chops.