''Loving Couples'' is a 1980 American romantic comedy film written by Martin Donovan and directed by

Jack Smight John Ronald Smight (March 9, 1925 – September 1, 2003) was an American theatre and film director. His film credits include ''Harper'' (1966), '' No Way to Treat a Lady'' (1968), '' Airport 1975'' (1974), '' Midway'' (1976), and '' Fast Break ...

. It stars Shirley MacLaine, James Coburn,

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actorMcCabe, Bruce"Susan Sarandon, the 'actor'" ''Boston Globe''. April 17, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2021. and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, ...

and

Stephen Collins Stephen Weaver Collins (born October 1, 1947) is an American former actor and writer. He is known for playing Eric Camden on the television series '' 7th Heaven'' from 1996 to 2007. Afterwards, Collins played the roles of Dayton King on the ABC ...

Plot

The plot offers a comic spin on

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

. When Greg crashes his

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

, doctor Evelyn comes to his rescue, and the two soon are engaged in an affair. Evelyn's workaholic husband learns about it from Greg's live-in girlfriend, scatterbrained

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

weather girl ''Weather Girl'' is a 2009 comedy film written and directed by Blayne Weaver and starring Tricia O'Kelley, Mark Harmon, Jon Cryer, and Enrico Colantoni. After a morning show personality discovers her boyfriend's infidelity, she loses it on-air, c ...

Stephanie, and the two begin to engage in a dalliance of their own. Complications arise when the two couples plan a clandestine weekend getaway at the same Acapulco resort.

Production notes

The scenes in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

actually were shot in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

, and the hotel interiors were filmed at the Ambassador Hotel on

Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard is a prominent boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles. One of the principal ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. The film grossed $2,806,659 in the US. Together with ''

A Change of Seasons ''A Change of Seasons'' is an EP by progressive metal band Dream Theater, first released on September 19, 1995, through East West Records. It comprises the 23-minute title track and a collection of live cover songs performed at a fan club con ...

'', the film was one of two 1980

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

releases starring Shirley MacLaine that dealt with the subject of marital infidelity. Coburn said "“It was a change of pace. It was a comedy. I thought it was pretty good. But, there was another film out around the same time with Shirley MacLaine called A CHANGE OF SEASONS. You know, that film was a lot like LOVING COUPLES. It was almost the same fuckin’ story. Shirley played the same kind of character. I don't know why.”

Principal cast

* Shirley MacLaine — Dr. Evelyn Lucas Kirby * James Coburn — Dr. Walter Kirby *

— Stephanie Beck *

— Greg Plunkett *

Sally Kellerman Sally Clare Kellerman (June 2, 1937 – February 24, 2022) was an American actress and singer whose acting career spanned 60 years. Her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in Robert Altman's film '' M*A*S*H'' (1970) earned her an Oscar n ...

- Mrs. Liggett *

Nan Martin Nan Martin (July 15, 1927 – March 4, 2010) was an American actress who starred in movies and on television. Life and career Early life Born in Decatur, Illinois, and raised in Santa Monica, California, she attended Santa Monica High School. ...

- Walter's Nurse * Anne Bloom - Nurse *

Helena Carroll Helena Winifred Carroll (13 November 1928 – 31 March 2013) was a veteran film, television and stage actress. Early life Born to clothing designer Helena Reilly and Abbey Theatre playwright Paul Vincent Carroll, she was the youngest of thr ...

- Prudence * Marilyn Chris - Sally * Pat Corley - Delmonico Clerk * Michael Currie - Ken *

John de Lancie John Sherwood de Lancie, Jr. (born March 20, 1948) is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and comedian, best known for his role as Q in various ''Star Trek'' series (1987–present); beginning with '' Star Trek: The Next Generation ...

- Alan * Peter Hobbs - Frank *

Sam Weisman Sam Weisman is an American film director. He has directed the films '' D2: The Mighty Ducks'', '' Bye Bye Love'', ''George of the Jungle'', '' The Out-of-Towners'', '' What's the Worst That Could Happen?'', and '' Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star' ...

- Cop

Soundtrack

A soundtrack to the movie was released on Motown Records featuring new music from

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

Syreeta Syreeta Wright (February 28, 1946 – July 6, 2004), who recorded professionally under the single name Syreeta, was an American singer-songwriter, best known for her music during the early 1970s through the early 1980s. Wright's career heights we ...

, and Billy Preston. Also featured the song "Bass Odyssey" by

Jermaine Jackson Jermaine La Jaune Jackson (born December 11, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and bassist. He is best known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of The Jackso ...

from his 1976 album ''

My Name Is Jermaine ''My Name Is Jermaine'' is the third solo album from Jermaine Jackson and the first post-Jackson 5 album from him. It was released in 1976. The single released from this album was "Let's Be Young Tonight" which went to No. #19 on the Black Sin ...

''.

SIDE ONE

#Take Me Away (The Temptations)(written by Fred Karlin and

Dean Pitchford Dean Pitchford (born July 29, 1951) is an American songwriter, screenwriter, director, actor, and novelist. His work has earned him an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for three additional Oscars, two more Golden Globes, ei ...

) #And So It Begins (Instrumental Version)(written by Fred Karlin) #Turn Up the Music (Syreeta)(written by Fred Karlin and Dean Pitchford) #I'll Make It With Your Love (Billy Preston)(written by Fred Karlin and

Norman Gimbel Norman Gimbel (November 16, 1927 – December 19, 2018) was an American lyricist of popular songs, television and movie themes. He wrote the lyrics for songs including " Killing Me Softly with His Song", " Ready to Take a Chance Again" (both wit ...

)

SIDE TWO

#And So It Begins (Syreeta)(written by Fred Karlin and Norman Gimbel) #I'll Make It With Your Love (Instrumental Version)(written by Fred Karlin) #There's More Where That Came From (The Temptations)(written by Fred Karlin and Dean Pitchford) #Bass Odyssey (Jermaine Jackson)(written by Greg Wright) All songs were produced by

Teddy Randazzo Alessandro Carmelo "Teddy" Randazzo (May 13, 1935 – November 21, 2003) was an American pop songwriter, singer, arranger and producer, who composed hit songs such as " Goin' Out of My Head", "It's Gonna Take a Miracle", " Pretty Blue Eyes", ...

, except for "Bass Odyssey" which was produced by Greg Wright. Also Karlin himself produced the instrumental versions of "And So It Begins" and "I'll Make It With Your Love".

Critical reception

In her review in ''

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 d ...

'',

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 ...

called the film "a flat, lifeless movie . . . about as uneventful and unromantic as a romantic comedy can be" and added, "it never creates the impression that any of the lovers much care about one another, or even that they're people at all." Roger Ebert 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 ...

'' called it "a dumb remake of a very old idea that has been done so much better so many times before, that this version is wretchedly unnecessary . . . the whole project smells like high-gloss

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

." ''

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), ...

'' opined, "Direction by Jack Smight is assured and never lags. MacLaine is in top form, sassy and sweet in turn. Coburn delivers a casually effective light comedy performance. Sarandon is topnotch." ''

Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

'' says it "subscribes to conventions as old as the hills and twice as rocky, burying any hints of feminist awareness beneath the routines of macho courtship. Faced with direction paced at a lethargic crawl and dialogue of inconceivable banality, the cast respond with performances of glazed charm."''Time Out New York'' review
/ref>

References

External links

* * * * {{Jack Smight 1980 films 1980 romantic comedy films 20th Century Fox films Adultery in films American romantic comedy films Films directed by Jack Smight Films scored by Fred Karlin 1980s English-language films 1980s American films Films shot in San Diego