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Running Scared
Film
FilmPG-131987
The Secret of My Success
Directed by Herbert Ross
Brantley Foster, a well-educated kid from Kansas, has always dreamed of making it big in New York City, but once there, he learns that jobs - and girls - are hard to get. When he visits his uncle, Howard Prescott, who runs a multi-million-dollar company, he is given a job in the mail room. From TMDB
63 reactions from 3 sources (Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 4, 2026 · last updated Nov 4, 2026 · How this works
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| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluesky * | 14 | 7 | 40 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
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At a glance
The Secret of My Success is a 1987 comedy film, directed by Herbert Ross, starring Michael J. Fox, Helen Slater and Richard Jordan.
- 57 people have posted about this film on Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon
- posts span Jul 9, 2023 to Nov 4, 2026
Assembled from TMDB, Wikidata and Steam fields and our own counts, nothing written by a model. Method
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
63 public posts have mentioned The Secret of My Success so far, but it needs 10 opinionated reactions from checked sources before it gets a score. Seen it? Post your take.
The Experts
49%
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The People
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Reactions
60 of 63 · most liked firstThe Secret of My Success (1987, Michael J Fox) is like the epitome an 80s boomer-fantasy about business. The film is pitched as "bright young hopeful works his way up from the mailroom" but he LITERALLY HAS A RELATIVE WHO IS HIS RELATIVE AT A FANCY COMPANY. that's his "secret".
negative · AI labelView post →#20SongsByYear #MusicChallenge My Year: 1987 (Unranked) Day 16. The Secret Of My Success - Night Ranger From the Michael J. Fox film of the same title. I didn’t love the movie but I’ve always loved this great rocking song. 😀🎸 #MusicSky #80s 🎶
neutral · AI labelView post →The Secret of My Success is a fun cute movie not enough people have seen
positive · AI labelView post →I watched the 80s movie, The Secret Of My Success, about a plucky young guy played by Michael J Fox, making it in the big city the other night. Yeah and the secret was his uncle owned the company.
negative · AI labelView post →I watched "The Secret of My Success"early this a.m. couldn't sleep. Something I recognized long ago, but got a reminder, is that POC have been portrayed as villains for, forever. In a scene, MJ Fox is NYC in a phn booth and a POC robs a wmn. That's how racism starts. Innocent kid watching a movie.
negative · AI labelView post →#JanuaryMovieChallenge #Moviesky 1/29 Movie taking place in Kansas The Secret of My Success (1987) Director: Herbert Ross Michael J Fox plays Brantley Foster who moves from Kansas to the Big City of New York to start working as a yuppie
neutral · AI labelView post →#JulyMovieChallenge Day 31 CEO in a movie Howard Prescott The Secret Of My Success (1987)
neutral · AI labelView post →Happy Movie Wednesday! Michael J. Fox was THE poster boy of the 80s! From Back to the Future and Teen Wolf to The Secret of My Success and Bright Lights, Big City, he lit up the screen. One of my heroes, both for his films and the courage and humour he’s shown ever since. #FilmSky #MichaelJFox
neutral · AI labelView post →She was also great in "The Secret of My Success" with Michael J. Fox. As far as Supergirl goes, I think Melissa Benoist nailed it and we really need a DC movie with the CW Flash (Grant Gustin) and others. The backlash against the current star is baffling.
neutral · AI labelView post →So, tonight's movie will be: The Secret Of My Success.
neutral · AI labelView post →Share a movie or TV character applying make-up My choice Vera in The Secret of My Success
neutral · AI labelView post →Finally watching The Secret of My Success so I can write about how well it holds up and Howard literally fires Christie for ending her affair with him and nobody in the movie bats an eye at it.
negative · AI labelView post →Almost every single film here is great (I've not heard of The Secret Of My Success). The 80s were an amazing time for film.
neutral · AI labelView post →📽️ EVERY NIGHT IS MOVIE NIGHT 🍿 (262/365) #NowShowing THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS (1987) Michael J Fox is one of my favorite actors, but I probably haven’t watched this in about 30 years. 🧡🤘 #FilmSky
neutral · AI labelView post →I am having my Anti Eurovision Film Fest on Saturday 3pm EST (same start time as that confounded show) and I picked out three good ones: The Secret of My Success, Mr. Baseball and Continental Divide.
neutral · AI labelView post →New episode of The Number One Movie in America, on the aggressive megadose dose of 80s vibes (complimentary/derogatory) that is The Secret of My Success! bit.ly/ItsBrantley
neutral · AI labelView post →My favorite Michael J. Fox film: The Secret of My Success My favorite film that Michael J. Fox happened to be in: Mars Attacks
positive · AI labelView post →# [LG SOTD - 2026-10-30](https://media.wetshav.ing/posts/Mj/RD/MjRDywIXf4CtzBg.jpeg) * **Prep:** Chiseled Face Groomatorium - Pre-shave Gel * **Bowl:** Captain's Choice - Obsidian Copper * **Brush:** Stirling x Zenith - 510SE-XL (Resin) w/ 31mm Boar * **Razor:** RazoRock - Superslant - L3++ * **Blade:** Feather - New Hi-Stainless (DE) * **Lather:** Lockhart's Authentic - Sex Machine * **Post Shave:** Lockhart's Authentic - Sex Machine Aftershave * **Post Shave:** Stirling Soap Co. - Glacial…
neutral · AI labelView post →#JulyMovieChallenge Day 31 CEO in a movie The Secret Of My Success (1987)
neutral · AI labelView post →10 July 1926 – 1993 Fred Gwynne, 66, US actor, singer, writer, painter. (Height 6 ft 5 in) Film debut: On the Waterfront (1954) * Car 54, Where Are You? * The Munsters (+ films) * The Cotton Club * The Secret of My Success * Fatal Attraction * Ironweed * Pet Sematary * My Cousin Vinny (1992)
neutral · AI labelView post →On a whim, we tried watching The Secret Of My Success. That film has not aged well. Gave up and watched Stranger Than Fiction instead, which was much better than I remember.
negative · AI labelView post →The Secret Of My Success (87). I saw that Michael J Fox movie in a different flea pit cinema where two out of three rows of seats had been removed. You could really stretch out.
neutral · AI labelView post →#NowWatching #25Y24F #2215 Herbert Ross' THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS [1987] Original Watch: Circa APRIL 1987 on Film Current Watch: 12/10/25 on DVD
neutral · AI labelView post →To celebrate Labor Day in America, I'm watching assorted movies about working! cos I like movies and I'm not working (this weekend.) #7, third one yesterday, was "The Secret of My Success" (1987) where mailroom clerk Michael J. Fox tries to be in two places at once as he fakes being an executive.
neutral · AI labelView post →It's a classic - that cast alone! Bound was inevitable. A heist movie? With lesbians? And Jennifer Tilly? In 1996? The Secret Of My Success, though... even I find that one hard to defend :)
neutral · AI labelView post →I would really like to avoid getting into Bechdel Cast territory, but I don't think I can talk about The Secret of My Success without mentioning that Michael J Fox is straight up raped early in this movie and it's played for laughs.
negative · AI labelView post →The Secret of My Success (1987) - Less a movie than a hodgepodge of 80s tropes. Gross treatment of female characters even by the standards of the time. MJF is at least charming but this is an easy skip.
negative · AI labelView post →Big Business? The Secret of My Success, Who's Harry Crumb?, that Christmas movie Die Hard
neutral · AI labelView post →I saw this movie when it was new. I forgot about the coma baby. Yikes. I'd rather watch The Secret of My Success if I'm looking for forgotten MJ Fox movies. 😁
positive · AI labelView post →Film you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Star Trek, Star Wars, LOTR, Marvel, Disney, or Ghibli. The Secret of My Success
neutral · AI labelView post →You know what film trend makes me sad? That all of romcom history seems now to be defined by a handful of post-millennial films made by unpleasant people. Please, young people, watch The Secret Of My Success, & Jack & Sarah. They're short by modern standards & stand up like you wouldn't believe.
positive · AI labelView post →4. The Secret of My Success (1987) This was a fun time! It has the heteronormative trappings you'd expect from an 80s rags-to-riches movie but it's a fun, easy watch, and Fox's acting kept things entertaining. Doesn't take itself seriously at all, which I always appreciate in a story like this
positive · AI labelView post →Is that The Secret Of My Success? I loved that movie!
positive · AI labelView post →Technically "The Secret of My Success" was #1 when I was born, but a few days later it was a movie that at least has a recognizable GIF.
neutral · AI labelView post →Maybe 🤔 watching a movie we can time travel 🧭 Highest-grossing films by MPAA rating of 1987 G Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1987 Re-issue) PG Three Men and a Baby PG-13 The Secret of My Success 1985 #BackToTheFuture 🔻 came out so maybe music 🎶 might work best? IDK 🤷🏻♀️ works for me. Maybe U2
neutral · AI labelView post →Underrated: 1987's FROM THE HIP w/ Judd Nelson, Elizabeth Perkins, Nancy Marchand and John Hurt. It's equal parts REAL GENIUS, THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS, and JAGGED EDGE, and typifies a *kind* of movie made in the mid to late 80s w/ a *kind* of protagonist that is super-specific to the time period.
neutral · AI labelView post →Ha ha, the first movie is The Secret Of My Success
neutral · AI labelView post →I was born in 1974. I’m choosing one movie per day from each year to today. #filmsky #moviesky 🎥 🍿 14 out of 51, 1987: ‘The Secret of My Success’
neutral · AI labelView post →I discovered that I can clean and mop my main hallway within the time frame of Night Ranger’s theme song to the 80’s movie “The Secret of My Success”. I also learned my dogs can undo my efforts in the first 6 measures of the same song.
neutral · AI labelView post →A Thursday movie: The Secret Of My Success. Teen crush Michael J. Fox and the lovely Helen Slater. What a movie! m.imdb.com/title/tt0093...
positive · AI labelView post →Tonight’s movie: The Secret Of My Success. This was clearly a 1950s screwball comedy that got dropped into the 1980s. It’s being pulled in different directions and doesn’t quite work. But the soundtrack is the most ‘80s soundtrack ever, and Michael J. Fox is so damn charming.
neutral · AI labelView post →Watching The Secret of My Success because sometimes I just want to watch an 80's Doing Stuff movie in NYC. I'm really looking forward to the shoulder pads.
positive · AI labelView post →The Secret of My Success might be the most 80's movie ever made...
positive · AI labelView post →The (movie) The Secret of My Success 1080p (iTunes)(US) $4.99 (Comedy) (iMDB) 6.9 (Movies Anywhere) Cast: Michael J. Fox, Helen Slater, Richard Jordan, Margaret Whitton, John Pankow, Fred Gwynne
neutral · AI labelView post →The (movie) The Secret of My Success 1080p (iTunes)(AU) AU$4.99 (Comedy) (iMDB) 6.9 Cast: Michael J. Fox, Helen Slater, Richard Jordan, Margaret Whitton, John Pankow, Fred Gwynne
neutral · AI labelView post →The (movie) The Secret of My Success 1080p (iTunes)(AU) AU$4.99 (Comedy) (iMDB) 6.9 Cast: Michael J. Fox, Helen Slater, Richard Jordan, Margaret Whitton, John Pankow, Fred Gwynne
neutral · AI labelView post →I also owned "The Secret of My Success" on VHS. Great movie!
positive · AI labelView post →THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS would have been his light guilty pleasure movie imo
neutral · AI labelView post →...so, I'm watching The Secret of My Success, because, I mean, it's an excellent film. Regardless, the current state of the world is like if every awful person from The Secret of My Success won. BUT, we know they didn't all win - there are MJFs and Helen Slaters in this world who persevered.
positive · AI labelView post →The Secret of My Success is a really old film starring Alex P Keaton. P being the most importing part of Mr. Prescott’s role. youtu.be/393C3pr2ioY?...
neutral · AI labelView post →So I've had the random idea for a couple of months that a really funny concept would be to remake The Secret of My Success, but queer it up with the Michael j Fox role being a butch lesbian who poses as a man. I just rewatched that movie, after decades, and yeah, it would fucking work.
positive · AI labelView post →Film of the Day The Secret of My Success / 1987 #thesecretofmysuccess Director: Herbert Ross - Starring: Michael J. Fox, Helen Slater and Richard Jordan www.saltypopcorn.co.uk/movies/the-s...
neutral · AI labelView post →I just saw someone posting somewhere about the opening of the Michael J Fox movie THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS, where we see his father grousing about him going to NYC, "There's nothing for him there", and the mother comments, "You've never been there, how do you know?"
neutral · AI labelView post →Frustrated by the #JobHunt? The Secret of My Success teaches us that persistence, #Networking and standing out are the keys to success. 💼✨ My latest podcast episode has tips on how to apply these lessons to your #CareerTransition #TeachersInTransition #Teachers www.buzzsprout.com/277608/episo...
neutral · AI labelView post →The Secret of My Success was a great film, pretty much the plot you've described.
positive · AI labelView post →He DID shag his Auntie in "The Secret of My Success". "Hey, MJ, we've got this fish out of water business romcom type movie on the slate, what do you think? Interested?" "No, doesn't sound like my kind of gig" "Ok, you do get to shag your aunt though?" The fuck you waiting for? Sign me up man!
neutral · AI labelView post →That reminds me of a great movie I watched last night that embodies that perfectly. It's called The Secret of My Success.
positive · AI labelView post →On this week's #VideoStorePodcast, @Flack made some recommendations for how to have a successful new year. #UHF #TheSecretOfMySuccess #nerdlyfe https://www.videostorepodcast.com/p/the-secret-of-your-success
neutral · AI labelView post →The (movie) The Secret of My Success is available today on (iTunes) (Australia) for AU$4.99 Cast: Michael J. Fox, Helen Slater, Richard Jordan, Margaret Whitton, John Pankow, Fred Gwynne
neutral · AI labelView post →28. I recently watched a shorten review of Guardians Of The Galaxy 3, but in technical terms, I recently watch the movie, "The Secret of My Success," with a couple of my IRL friends. 👍💖 A very confusing and odd movie. Like so bad it's good type of movie. 🤣😅
neutral · AI labelView post →
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