Although experts say that people go to the movies to escape, films do more than take viewers away from the day-to-day routine. In fact, the movies that often move us the most are those to which we can relate.

While offering entertainment, films can also provide us with insights into the many facets of our lives. Surprisingly (or perhaps not, given we spend so many of our waking hours at work), a lot of films tackle various aspects of the employment experience. Here, in no particular order, are a few films that get it right when it comes to work and career-related issues.
  • Devil wears Prada - If early in your career you had the misfortune of working for a She - Devil, you’ll certainly relate to this film. Anne Hathaway stars as an inexperienced young woman who must deal with a difficult boss, played by Meryl Streep. Hathaway’s character, Andy Sachs, doesn’t fit with the company for which she works, and she is made to feel that everything about herself, from her looks and wardrobe to her goals and ideals, are wrong. Although some of the scenes border on cliches, they nevertheless ring true.

    What we’ve learned from that is there are no boundaries of human capabilities, if you are convinced enough to challenge them all.
     
  • You’ve Got Mail - "A small entrepreneur struggles against powerful corporation" could be the subtitle of this movie, starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. Ryan plays the owner of a small New York City bookstore that has been losing business to a bookstore chain, run by Hanks’ character, Joe Fox. The primary focus of the film is the online connection between the two characters, who initially don’t know their offline lives overlap, and their romance.

    Against this somewhat and without excessive panic, we captured the feeling of learning more about the people entering in our lives, since some of them may appear to have the same business goals as you do.
     
  • The Client - The movie stars Susan Sarandon, who plays an attorney representing a young client. It’s fascinating to watch Sarandon, in the role of Reggie Love, struggle with crossing the line from professional to personal, while trying to rein herself in Sarandon, nominated for an Academy Award for her performance, owns every scene in which she appears. This film clearly shows how a single woman can be consumed by her career, and be rewarded by the experience while also experiencing heartbreak.

    And of course, we did not miss to notice that success is more due to a hard work, rather than a sudden strike of luck.
     
  • American Beauty - this movie probably has several of the all-time-best work scenes. Kevin Spacey is unforgettable as Lester Burnham, an unhappy employee who makes a career change. Annette Bening plays his wife, a realtor driven to succeed, whose work-life also figures prominently in the story. It’s difficult to classify "American Beauty", which won an Academy Award for Best Picture. The film contains a lot of humor, and it will make you laugh. But it also offers an incredibly accurate portrayal of the subtleties of human interaction. The story is complex and moving, and in fact no synopsis of the plot does it justice.

    At last but not least, it best describes the negative effects, changes may cause, when one of the two in a family relation is devoted to his/her job and completely forgetting about his family duties.
     
  • Office Space – an absolute classic in this list. Interesting, funny and most of all real, regarding the fact how many people just hate their real job. The leading star in the movie decides to stop working and the only thing he would do during his last days onboard is to play PC games on his computer, ruin company’s property and ironically replying his supervisor’s orders. Instead of being fired, he got a promotion. The deep meaning of the story though, is not how person should behave on work when totally burned out, but the importance of real motivation. The following dialog from the movie best says about that:
    Peter Gibbons: The thing is, Bob, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care.
    Bob Porter: Don't... don't care?
    Peter Gibbons: It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now if I work my butt off and Initech ships a few extra units, I don't see another dime; so where's the motivation? And here's something else, Bob: I have eight different bosses right now.
    Bob Porter: I beg your pardon?
    Peter Gibbons: Eight bosses.
    Bob Porter: Eight?
    Peter Gibbons: Eight, Bob. So that means that when I make a mistake, I have eight different people coming by to tell me about it. That's my only real motivation is not to be hassled; that, and the fear of losing my job. But you know, Bob, that will only make someone work just hard enough not to get fired.

    Have you ever thought how important the motivation is in our every day work?
     
  • Pursuit of Happyness - To say that the lead character faces career challenges and rises above them is an understatement. The fact that the film is based on a true story makes it all the more inspiring. Do you clearly remember how Christopher Gardner (Will Smith) won the interviewer while talking? Martin Frohm: What would you say if man walked in here with no shirt, and I hired him? What would you say? Christopher Gardner: He must have had on some really nice pants.

    In other words - there is always a way out, no matter how difficult and desperate seems to be the situation.
In conclusion, in every movie mentioned above we see the clear career vibes and messages they send to us from the perseverance and long-term professional development, interpersonal relations and conversation up to the motivation and icebreakers, which for sure open many doors in the fierce corporate world.