''Blonde Ambition'' is a 2007 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by Scott Marshall and starring Jessica Simpson as a small-town girl who moves to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and rises up into a career as a business woman. The film also stars Luke Wilson,

Rachael Leigh Cook Rachael Leigh Cook (born October 4, 1979) is an American actress and model. She has starred in the films '' The Baby-Sitters Club'' (1995), '' She's All That'' (1999), and '' Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), and in the television series '' Into ...

Penelope Ann Miller Penelope Ann Miller (born Penelope Andrea Miller; January 13, 1964), sometimes credited as Penelope Miller, is an American actress. She began her career on Broadway in the 1985 original production of ''Biloxi Blues'' and received a Tony Award no ...

Andy Dick Andrew Roane Dick (born Andrew Thomlinson; December 21, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, musician, and television and film producer. Known professionally as a comic, his first regular television role was on the short-lived but influential ...

Drew Fuller Andrew Alan "Drew" Fuller (born May 19, 1980) is an American actor and former model. He is best known for his portrayal of Chris Halliwell in the television series ''Charmed'' and for playing soldier Trevor LeBlanc on Lifetime's ''Army Wives' ...

, Larry Miller and

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (1 ...

. Before the film started filming, sources reported that ''Blonde Ambition'' was a remake of the 1988 film ''

Working Girl ''Working Girl'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols, written by Kevin Wade, and starring Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, and Melanie Griffith. Its plot follows an ambitious secretary from Staten Island who t ...

''. After learning about this rumor, Simpson told ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' in November 2006, "It's definitely the theme of ''Working Girl'' – this small town girl moving to New York City and rising up into this great career as a business woman pretty much. But it's definitely not a remake." She also described ''Blonde Ambition'' as "more of a knockabout

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

" than ''Working Girl'', which "had one foot in drama".

Plot

When Katie Gregerstitch, from Minden, Oklahoma, visits her boyfriend Billy, an aspiring

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

, in

, she catches him in bed with another woman. Thus, Billy breaks up with Katie, who then leaves to stay with her cousin Haley. She convinces Katie to start an independent life of her own, instead of sitting around doing nothing. One day, when Haley has to go to an audition, Katie takes over her job as a messenger and eventually has to deliver a shipment to a large building construction company. The deputy director of that company, Debra, preys on the job of Richard and has come up with a plan to frame Richard for sabotage, in order to take over the company. To help herself with that, she makes sure that Richard’s secretary gets dismissed and that the naive Katie takes her place. Katie meanwhile meets Ben, who works as a postman in the building, and befriends him. After losing a contract, by Debra’s doing, Katie gets fired, but by using her charms, she manages to get a second chance from Richard. When she manages to get the interest of a group of Norwegian investors, Richard shares an important confidential project with her. Debra manages to get the confidential information out of Katie and thereby make sure that the Board of Directors fires Richard. Meanwhile, Katie has discovered that Ben is actually Richard’s son. Together with him, she devises a ruse to outsmart Debra. When Debra proposes the project to the investors, she sends out Haley and some friends, who pose as the investors. At the same time, she presents her own proposal to the real investors, who satisfyingly take it. When Debra discovers the deception, she flies into a rage and thus gets fired.

Cast

* Jessica Simpson as Katie Gregerstitch * Luke Wilson as Ben Connelly *

as Billy *

as Haley * Paul C. Vogt as Floyd *

as Freddy * Bill Jenkins as Robert Perry * Karen McClain as Betty * Larry Miller as Richard Connelly *

as Debra * Piper Mackenzie Harris as Amber Perry * Sarah Ann Schultz as Samantha * Dan Braverman as Cab Driver *

as Pap Paw * Casey Keene as Office Assistant *

Ryan Dunn Ryan Matthew Dunn (June 11, 1977 – June 20, 2011) was an American stunt performer, television personality, actor and comedian. He was best known as one of the stars of the MTV reality stunt show ''Jackass (TV series), Jackass'' and its fi ...

as Griswold

Reception

Box office

''Blonde Ambition'' was released into eight theatres in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, the home state for stars Simpson and Wilson, on December 22, 2007, before a DVD release date on January 22, 2008. The film averaged $48 per screen on December 22, 2007, for a total box office of $384, meaning that, based on an $8 ticket price, six people paid to see the film at each of those eight theatres and 48 people in total went to see the film. Opening weekend, the film finished 54th at the North American box office with a three-day gross of $1,332 and a per-theatre-average of $165. In

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, the film opened at #1 in its first weekend (February 16–17, 2008), earning $253,008. In Russia, ''Blonde Ambition'' opened up at #7 at box office and has grossed $1,010,235 to date, and in the Philippines it opened at #5 and has grossed $16,538 to date. ''Blonde Ambition'', despite being a box office disappointment, impressively grossed $2.7 million in the first five days of DVD release ranking #23 on the DVD sales chart. This is possibly due to Jessica Simpson's fanbase supporting her. Since the movie's DVD release date it has grossed $11.56 million in the United States.

Critical response

Joe Leydon of

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

gave it a negative review but said that it "sustains a sense of buoyancy" that makes it "relatively painless".

Soundtrack

* Jessica Simpson - " A Public Affair" (For Trailer Purposes Only) * KT Tunstall - " Suddenly I See" (For Trailer Purposes Only) * Lily May - "I Got Love" * Monique Ximenez - "You Can Fly" * Austin Brown - "Let's Make Love" * Hipjoint feat. Stef Lang - "Girl From Nowhere" * MegaJive - "The Way I Rock" * Stretch Nickel - "Beautiful Day" * Price - "Something In Your Eyes" * Hugh James Hardman - "Live A Little" * Adam Ant - "Wonderful"

Home media

The DVD was released in the US on January 22, 2008, and has also been released on iTunes. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the film was released direct to DVD in June 2010.

References

External links

* * * {{AllMovie title, 383905, Blonde Ambition
DVD Talk discusses Jessica Simpson's performance in ''Blonde Ambition''
2007 films 2000s business films 2007 romantic comedy films American business films American romantic comedy films American screwball comedy films Films about businesspeople Films directed by Scott Marshall Films set in New York City Films shot in Louisiana Films shot in New York City 2000s English-language films 2000s American films