Corporate Characters

Corporate culture is a constantly recurring theme in American movies. Whether they're hiring or firing, rising or tanking, how would you rate these business-minded roles?

rank title points votes your vote

1 Michael Douglas
In Wall Street, Gordon Gekko (Douglas) is an unscrupulous financial honcho who corrupts his protégé. 36 96

2 Meryl Streep
A newbie assistant (Anne Hathaway) does her best to appease her hellish boss (Streep) in The Devil Wears Prada. 27 99

3 Gregory Peck
In The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, a family man (Peck) decides between a lucrative job or quality time at home. 9 69

4 Paul Newman
In The Hudsucker Proxy, a corporate board member (Newman) promotes a drone to president in order to manipulate stocks. 9 71

5 Alec Baldwin
Baldwin stars as the messenger of harsh layoff news at a real estate firm in David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross. 8 80

6 Tom Hanks
In Bonfire of the Vanities, a Wall Street investor (Hanks) and his mistress are vilified for a hit-and-run accident. -3 65

7 Michael J. Fox
Fox stars as an enterprising mailroom clerk in The Secret of My Success. He climbs the ranks via an alter ego. -4 64

8 Sigourney Weaver
An executive (Weaver) goes from cool boss to evil boss after poaching her secretary’s idea in Working Girl. -4 70

9 Tim Robbins
In The Player, Robert Altman’s satire of Hollywood, Robbins plays a studio executive who kills an aspiring screenwriter. -8 64

10 Dan Aykroyd
As the unwitting subject in a social experiment, a businessman (Aykroyd) finds himself on the street in Trading Places. -12 46

11 Tom Cruise
In The Firm, a bright young lawyer (Cruise) discovers his swanky firm is corrupt with a capital “c.” -14 68

12 Diane Keaton
When an orphan is charged to her care, a career woman (Diane Keaton) reevaluates her priorities in Baby Boom. -15 59

13 Robert Morse
Sky’s the limit for an ambitious window-washer (Morse) in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. -17 59