Things go wrong from the start for Brantley Foster (Fox), as he’s made redundant before he’s even started his first job. Soon though, he calls his Uncle Howard (Richard Jordan) who is the president of Pemrose Corporation (a company who pretty much manufacture everything) and gets a start in the mail room. One of the executives gets fired and soon Foster has a dual identity, Carlton Whitfield, who has assumed the role of the fired executive. Obvious laughs follow, and even more when an executive’s wife seduces Brantley. Soon Foster’s alter ego falls for the only female executive, Christy Wills (Slater).

Michael J Fox gives one of the best performances of his career, perhaps not quite as polished as Marty McFly from ‘Back To The Future’, but very good all the same. His timing is brilliant throughout and continually makes his character likeable. Helen Slater, in easily her best performance, is superb as the love interest, hard-nosed at first, and soon beautifully vulnerable. The two make a believable couple and they both play off each other very well.

The style in which the film is shot is typically 80’s, from the garish colours and graffiti all the way through to the music. Some fantastic songs, including the title track, ‘Oh Yeah’ by Yello, and ‘Walking On Sunshine’ by Katrina and the Waves all add to make a completely retro feel.

Herbert Ross is at the helm of this a romantic comedy and produces an excellent film. Watching it now (for the umpteenth time) it’s still as good as when it was first viewed. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the picture quality. Often grainy in places, and a somewhat diluted picture don’t offer the kind of quality that is expected of the latest releases on DVD. However, considering the age of the film, the reproduction of the picture in widescreen is a God-send as finally viewers can see ‘The Secret Of My Success’ in it’s original theatrical picture aspect of 1.85. The sound quality is much better than the video equivalent in Dolby Digital Surround, but could have been so much better with a 5.1 track.