Tom, Dick and Harriet

Tom, Dick and Harriet

Year: 2013

Runtime: 83 mins

Language: English

Director: Kristoffer Tabori

Comedy

When Tom loses his job at an advertising agency, he enlists a youthful con-man to help save his career.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – Tom, Dick and Harriet (2013)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Tom, Dick and Harriet (2013). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Location

CG&O Advertising offices, Rage offices, Madison Avenue, Metropolitan Conservatory, Public Domain club, Russian restaurant, diner, launch party

CG&O Advertising and Rage form the core settings of the film's corporate world. The action moves through glossy boardrooms and a doorless Rage office, culminating in a high-energy launch party for a new electric car. Street scenes at diners and a Russian restaurant ground the satire in a concrete urban landscape.

🏢 Advertising firms 🏙️ Corporate offices 🎯 Campaign settings

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 09:57

Main Characters – Tom, Dick and Harriet (2013)

Meet the key characters of Tom, Dick and Harriet (2013), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Tom Burns (Stephen Weber)

An aging but still sharp advertising veteran, Tom is obsessed with staying relevant in a fast-changing industry. He is a protective, sometimes condescending father who wants to control his daughter’s choices. Forced into Rage’s cutthroat system, he must confront his own arrogance and the lure of easy success. By choosing honesty over ego, he risks everything to rebuild his career on a more principled footing.

🎬 Veteran 🧭 Morality 👨‍👧 Father 💼 Career

Reese Danzinger (Michael Eklund)

A megalomaniacal advertising boss who runs Rage with an attitude-driven ruthless streak. He uses Tom and Dick’s arrangement as a strategic front to execute bold but ethically dubious campaigns. Power and image are his currency, and he will sacrifice relationships to win clients. His confrontations reveal the cost of ambition when integrity is sidelined.

💼 Boss 🧠 Charisma 🕶️ Power 🔄 Manipulation

Harriet Fellows (Michelle Harrison)

Relationship-shy and wary after a past heartbreak, Harriet is smart and capable, serving as the campaign’s art director. She forms a complicated bond with both Dick and Tom, testing her boundaries and professional loyalty. Over the course of the story she learns to trust again and demands honesty in both work and romance. By the end, she envisions a partnership built on mutual respect.

🎭 Romance 🔍 Boundaries 🤝 Trust 🏢 Career

Dick Varnett (Andrew Francis)

A charming con man who poses as a front for Rage, Dick is smart, improvisational, and willing to bend the truth for a big payoff. His resume fabrications and risk-taking push the ad campaign forward, even as cracks begin to show. He proves to be talented but ethically flexible, threatening both his allies and his own future. The relationship with Tom and Harriet tests his ability to grow beyond deception.

🎭 Trickery 💡 Talent 🔥 Risk 💼 Ambition

Kelly Burns (MacKenzie Porter)

Tom’s daughter, a talented violinist whose acceptance by the Metropolitan Conservatory marks a new chapter. She challenges her father’s overprotectiveness as he learns to give her space and trust her choices. Her resilience and independence steer Tom toward a more honest and collaborative dynamic. Their evolving relationship becomes the emotional core of the film.

🎻 Music 🧭 Independence 👨‍👧 Family 🎓 Education

Liz (Ali Liebert)

A driven member of the creative team who reveals the vanity and insecurities present in the office. Her comment about personal transformation hints at the vanity-driven culture of the industry. She works alongside Harriet and Dick, contributing to the campaigns while navigating office politics. Her actions illustrate the pressures women face in high-stakes advertising environments.

💄 Beauty 🎯 Ambition 🤝 Professional

Derek (Hamza Adam)

Head art director assigned to the Future Vehicles Technology campaign; he’s cautious about Dick's inexperience yet supportive of the team. He monitors the creative process closely, balancing mentorship with skepticism. Derek’s measured approach anchors the campaign’s artistic direction amid mounting tensions.

🧭 Mentorship 🎨 Creative 🚦 Caution

Owen Bickford (Aaron Pearl)

A key client executive for Future Vehicles Technology who sets the terms of the campaign’s potential success. He represents the gatekeeper who can either push the project forward or pull the plug depending on the pitch. His reactions drive the urgency of the creative team’s efforts and reveal the commercial stakes behind the drama.

💼 Client 🎯 Campaign

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 09:57

Major Themes – Tom, Dick and Harriet (2013)

Explore the central themes of Tom, Dick and Harriet (2013), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🃏 Deception

Tom and Dick’s arrangement to use Dick as a front man for Rage highlights how ambition can drive people to blur truth. The scheme exposes vulnerabilities in both characters, showing how easy it is to manipulate others when talent meets opportunity. The film uses this deception to probe the ethics of advertising and the price of success. As the truth unfolds, characters must decide whether personal pride outweighs professional integrity.

🗝️ Honesty

A central thread is the demand for honesty in both work and love. Harriet insists on transparency, and Tom promises to become a more honest partner in business and life. The eventual unraveling of Dick’s scheme hinges on trust and the willingness to own up to mistakes. The finale suggests genuine collaboration—built on honesty—can outlast flashy deception.

👨‍👧 Family

Tom’s relationship with his daughter Kelly drives much of the plot and his decisions. He struggles to let her chart her own path, even as he fears losing her to the professional world. Their evolving bond culminates in mutual respect and a shared willingness to adapt. The arc uses family dynamics to ground the satire in human stakes.

🎨 Advertising ethics

The film critiques campaign tactics that prioritize sensationalism over truth. It contrasts high-gloss demos and clever copy with the real consequences for audiences and brands. Through Tom and Dick’s manipulations, it questions whether creativity justifies deception. In the end, ethical advertising wins when honesty and responsibility guide decisions.

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 09:57

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Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Career Crisis Redemption Stories like Tom, Dick and Harriet

Characters rebuild their professional lives after a major setback with honesty.Find more movies like Tom, Dick and Harriet that explore second chances in the workplace. These similar stories feature characters rebuilding their careers after a major setback, blending professional anxieties with uplifting journeys of personal integrity and creative problem-solving.

redemptivehopefulanxiousprofessionaltenseupliftingstarting overintegrity

Narrative Summary

The narrative follows a protagonist who experiences a significant professional failure, such as losing a job. Faced with pressure, they may initially pursue a dubious shortcut but ultimately learn that true success comes from authenticity, creative effort, and rebuilding trust.

Why These Movies?

These films are grouped by their shared focus on professional reinvention. They blend medium emotional weight with a hopeful tone, creating a relatable and inspiring arc about finding value and success through honesty and hard work after a fall from grace.

Movies with Well-Intentioned Cons like Tom, Dick and Harriet

Stories where a deceptive plan leads to positive personal change.If you liked the deceptive yet heartfelt plot of Tom, Dick and Harriet, explore these movies. They feature characters who start a con for noble reasons, leading to tense but ultimately uplifting stories about moral choices and positive transformation.

deceptivetenseredemptiveheartfeltupliftingmoral dilemmaanxioushopeful

Narrative Summary

The plot revolves around a central deception, often a professional con, that is motivated by a sympathetic goal like providing for family or saving a career. As the lie unfolds, it creates tension and complicates relationships, but the protagonist's underlying goodness leads them to choose honesty, resulting in a happier and more authentic resolution.

Why These Movies?

This thread connects films that use a deceptive premise to explore themes of integrity. They share a specific emotional mix: the tension of the con is balanced by a fundamentally hopeful tone and a heartwarming, character-driven journey that affirms positive values.

Unlock the Full Story of Tom, Dick and Harriet

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Tom, Dick and Harriet Summary

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Tom, Dick and Harriet Summary

Tom, Dick and Harriet Timeline

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Tom, Dick and Harriet Timeline

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Tom, Dick and Harriet Spoiler-Free Summary

More About Tom, Dick and Harriet

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