9 to 5

When 9 to 5 was first released in 1980, women in the workplace, while not exactly a novelty, was still a fresh enough concept to provide plenty of satirical fodder for a generation just graduating from the struggles of woman's lib. The message was pretty simple: We're all driving down the same road, but men continue to zip by in the carpool lane. The film fed us revenge fantasies mixed with a feminist can-do attitude. And it all seemed quite amusing at the time...until you realize that 35 years later, almost nothing has changed. In that respect 9 to 5 is tragically prescient in a way that stings just as much as it tickles.

Judy, Violet and Doralee (Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton respectively) all work under the thumb of incompetent middle manager Franklin Hart (Dabney Coleman) whose ineptitude is only matched by his overtly misogynistic attitude. Any way you cut it, the guy is an asshole. So much so, that when the girls kidnap him and take over the office for two months, his presence isn't even missed. In fact, Violet's new management innovations and office policies create an employee-friendly environment that has profits up 20%. Of course, that kind of success doesn't go unnoticed, and eventually their plan hits a road bump that could give Hart the credit for their accomplishments...or send them all to the slammer.

For a film that was never meant to be anything more than an audience-friendly rallying cry, one could write an incredibly insightful dissertation on the sexual politics at work in director Colin Higgins film (co-written by Patricia Resnick, a frequent Robert Altman collaborator). Judy, Violet and Doralee are strategically representative of different aspects of the challenges faced by working women: Judy a recent divorcee trying to start over, Violet an unappreciated business savant and Doralee a suspected sexpot who suffers her boss' advances just for a paycheck. But ironically enough, none of it would work without Coleman's spot-on performance; his credit-hogging management style is just familiar enough to women and men that both genders can despise him equally.

9 to 5 takes a while to warm up, but as the advantage bounces between Hart and his female captors, the movie stays refreshingly unpredictable throughout. Making her acting debut, Dolly Parton (who also sings the hit theme song) holds her own against the vastly more experienced Fonda and Tomlin, with the trio coming off as authentically chummy partners in crime. There's a sitcom levity to it all that turns what could have been a brilliant dark comedy into something with more mass appeal. But perhaps that's just the optimism of the '80s showing through. If we'd only known!

Twilight Time's 3000-copy limited edition should make fans extremely happy, sporting a superb hi-def transfer and oodles of special features both old and new. A commentary with Tomlin, Fonda, Parton and producer Bruce Gilbert is matched up with a new track from screenwriter Patricia Resnick and TT regulars Nick Redman and Julie Kirgo. Previous extras include the Making Of Nine @ 25: Revisiting a Comedy Classic, Remembering Colin Higgins, interviews, gag reel, animation reel, deleted scenes, karaoke, the original theatrical trailer and a new isolated score track and liner notes.