''Max Dugan Returns'' is a 1983 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written by

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...

and directed by

Herbert Ross Herbert David Ross (May 13, 1927 – October 9, 2001) was an American actor, choreographer, director and producer who worked predominantly in theater and film. He was nominated for two Academy Awards and a Tony Award. He is known for directing ...

. It stars

Marsha Mason Marsha Mason (born April 3, 1942) is an American actress and director. She has been nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Actress: for her performances in ''Cinderella Liberty'' (1973), ''The Goodbye Girl'' (1977), '' Chapter Two'' ...

Jason Robards Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American actor. Known as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill, Robards received two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the Cannes ...

in the titular role,

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films ''Citizen X'' (1995) an ...

, and

Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), the voice of adult Simba in Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994), ...

(in his film debut). It is the last of five Simon-Ross collaborations, as well as the last of Simon's films starring Mason (his wife at the time).

Plot

Widowed high school English teacher Nora McPhee lives with her 15-year-old son, Michael, in a broken down house in

Venice, Los Angeles Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...

. One night, her long-lost father, Max Dugan, appears at her door; she initially does not recognize him, as he went to prison when she was only 9 years old, and disappeared after serving 6 years. He explains that he is dying within the year, and wants to give her and Michael the $687,000 ($ million today) he managed to embezzle from a Las Vegas casino after they appropriated his property, worth that same amount. Nora meets police detective Brian Costello when her car is stolen and they soon start dating. Nora and her (possible) father conceal his identity from Michael and Brian, with Dugan telling Michael that he knew "Max" in prisonthen tells Nora the same, further obfuscating what she can believe. Though Nora rejects his money, only wanting his presence in her life, Max continues buying extravagant cars, appliances, and renovations for her and Michael, making it harder for her to hide the truth from an increasingly suspicious Brian. Busybody neighbor Mrs. Litke complicates things by continuously reporting things to the police. After two weeks together, Nora is now sure that it truly is her father. She pleads with Max to turn himself in, confident that the police will take the money and release him to her care for his final few months. Instead, he leaves a message that he is fleeing to Brazil with part of the money, leaving the rest for them. Brian stops Nora as she heads to Michael's baseball game. He has figured out who Max is, and that he is dying, and warns her that she could face prison time unless she turns Max in. Nora refuses to do anything until after the game. After Michael hits the game winning home runhis first hit of the season, thanks to training from MLB coach

Charley Lau Charles Richard Lau (April 12, 1933 – March 18, 1984) was an American professional baseball player and a highly influential hitting coach. During his playing career in Major League Baseball, Lau appeared in 527 games as a catcher and pinch hitt ...

, paid for by MaxNora finally tells Brian everything. She also convinces him that Max is unimportant, and that the off-duty Brian can call in the information after lunch. Max is seen driving away, apparently headed for Brazil.

Cast

Additionally,

Kiefer Sutherland Kiefer William Sutherland (born 21 December 1966) is a British-Canadian actor and musician. He is best known for his starring role as Jack Bauer in the Fox drama series '' 24'' (2001–2010, 2014), for which he won an Emmy Award, a Golden Glo ...

(in his film debut) briefly appears as Bill, Mike's school friend.

Production notes

''Max Dugan Returns'' marks the first of only three times (as of 2022) that

and his son Kiefer have appeared together in a dramatic film project, the others being '' A Time to Kill'' and '' Forsaken'', in the latter of which they both starred in the leads.

was cast in this film and Simon's play ''

Brighton Beach Memoirs ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon, the first chapter in what is known as his Eugene trilogy. It precedes '' Biloxi Blues'' and ''Broadway Bound''. Productions ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' had a pre-Broadway ...

'' simultaneously. The real-life father of Matthew Broderick, noted character actor

James Broderick James Joseph Broderick III (March 7, 1927November 1, 1982) was an American actor. He is known for his role as Doug Lawrence in the television series ''Family'', which ran from 1976 to 1980, and he played a pivotal role in the 1975 film ''Dog Day ...

(whose birthname is James Joseph Broderick III), died on November 1, 1982 around the time of the making of this film. Co-star

, who knew James and was a friend, helped Matthew through his grief over the loss of his father. Former professional baseball player

appears as himself having been hired by Robards' character Dugan to coach Broderick's Michael to hit better for his high school team. At the time of the movie, Lau was the hitting coach for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

. This was the last motion picture that Mason and Simon collaborated on before their divorce.

Reception

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4, calling it "watchable and sort of sweet."

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...

of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' also awarded 2.5 stars out of 4 and wrote:

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, "Mr. Simon's original screenplay is fast and buoyant, and Herbert Ross's direction shows off the abundant jokes to their best possible advantage. There are certainly some questionable ingredients to the story, but you're not likely to notice them while the film is under way. You're likely to be laughing." ''

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), ...

'' described the film as "a consistently happy comedic fable which should please romanticists drawn again to another teaming of Neil Simon, Marsha Mason and Herbert Ross."

David Ansen David Ansen is an American film critic. He was a senior editor for ''Newsweek'', where he served as film critic from 1977 to 2008 and subsequently contribute to the magazined in a freelance capacity. Prior to writing for ''Newsweek'', he served a ...

of ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' wrote, "It's a cute fantasy, and the players are certainly appealing. But Simon overplays his hand. Having created living and breathing comic characters, he starts to suffocate them inside an increasingly mechanized plot. The cuteness gets a bit out of hand."

References

External links