romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Romantic comedy e ...
directed by
Jean-Claude Tramont
Jean-Claude Tramont (May 5, 1930 - December 27, 1996) was a Belgian writer, producer and director best known for his marriage to famous Hollywood agent Sue Mengers and the film '' All Night Long'' (1981).Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen Hackman (January 30, 1930 – ) was an American actor. Hackman made his credited film debut in the drama ''Lilith (film), Lilith'' (1964). He later won two Academy Awards, his first for Academy Award for Best Actor, Best Actor for ...
,
Barbra Streisand
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...
,
Diane Ladd
Diane Ladd (born Rose Diane Ladner; November 29, 1935) is an American actress. She has appeared in over 200 films and television shows. She received three Academy Award nominations for her roles in '' Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'' (1974), '' ...
,
Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in '' Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The Right Stuff'' (1983), '' The Big Easy'' (1986), '' Innerspace'' (1987), '' Great Balls of Fire!'' (1989), ' ...
,
Kevin Dobson
Kevin Patrick Dobson (March 18, 1943 – September 6, 2020) was an American film and television actor, best known for his roles as Detective Bobby Crocker, the trusted protege of Lt. Theo Kojak (played by Telly Savalas) in the CBS crime d ...
and
William Daniels
William David Daniels (born March 31, 1927) is an American actor who is known for his television roles, notably as Mark Craig on the drama series ''St. Elsewhere'', for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards; the voice of KITT on the televisi ...
George Dupler, a married man nearing middle age, is demoted after a temper tantrum at work (throwing a chair out of his boss's window) and reduced to working as the midnight-shift manager of an all-night pharmacy/convenience store.
George's 18-year-old son, Freddie, is having an affair with an older, married woman, who also happens to be Freddie's fourth cousin. George advises Freddie to stop the affair before it leads to any trouble, but Freddie declares that he might love her. One night at the store, George finally meets the woman, Cheryl, an untalented singer-songwriter married to a volatile firefighter, Bobby and she begins to show an interest in him. After a while, the interest is mutual.
George goes to Cheryl's house to return her cigarette lighter. She offers to show George the paint job Freddie has done in her bedroom. George and Cheryl are about to get intimate, when Freddie comes over to see Cheryl for another tryst. George escapes before Freddie can see him, but Cheryl decides to tell Freddie about the affair she is having with his dad. The next day, when George is trying to sleep, and his wife, Helen, is having a French class, Freddie confronts his father, trying to fight him. Helen hears about the affair and George leaves. When she demands a divorce, George agrees.
George ends up quitting his job and leasing a loft where he can pursue his dream of being an inventor. George goes to an anniversary party where everybody he knows is there, including his family, plus Cheryl and Bobby. He realizes Bobby is aware of the affair with his wife. George takes Cheryl away from the party and her husband. Even though Cheryl loves him, she thinks he is too good for her.
Cheryl goes to the fire station where Bobby works to talk to him. Bobby ends up yelling at her and is about to hit her when the fire alarm goes off. He and all of the firemen leave, whereupon we see that it was George who reported the nonexistent fire.
Cheryl moves into George's place. Freddie has accepted the situation and helps her move in, showing that he and his dad have reconciled.
Cast
Production
The film was originally planned as a low-budget release with Hackman and
Lisa Eichhorn
Lisa Eichhorn (born February 4, 1952) is an American actress, writer and producer. She made her film debut in 1979 in the John Schlesinger film ''Yanks'', for which she received two Golden Globe nominations. Her international career has included ...
in the leading roles. Agent
Sue Mengers
Susi Mengers (September 2, 1932 – October 15, 2011) was a talent agent for many filmmakers and actors of the New Hollywood generation of the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s.
Early life
Mengers was born to a German Jews, Jewish family in Hamburg, ...
, who was married to the film's director,
Jean-Claude Tramont
Jean-Claude Tramont (May 5, 1930 - December 27, 1996) was a Belgian writer, producer and director best known for his marriage to famous Hollywood agent Sue Mengers and the film '' All Night Long'' (1981).
Prominent in the musical soundtrack is " La Violetera", a composition by José Padilla which had been featured previously in
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...
's ''
City Lights
''City Lights'' is a 1931 American synchronized sound film, sound romance film, romantic comedy drama, comedy-drama film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a ...
''.
Reception
The film received mostly negative reviews, though some critics cited Streisand's performance as one of her best. On review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, 33% of 9 reviews are positive, and the average rating is 5.4/10.
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic.
Biography
Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...
, in ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' magazine, gave the film a positive review, adding that Streisand's performance suggested
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...
.
Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael often defied the conse ...
in ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' was full of praise: "The director, Jean-Claude Tramont, a Belgian who has worked in American television, is a sophisticated jokester. There may be a suggestion of Lubitsch and of
Max Ophüls
Maximillian Oppenheimer ( , ; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls ( , , ) or simply Ophuls, was a German and French film director and screenwriter. He was known for his opulent and lyrical visual style, with heavy use of trac ...
in his approach, and there is more than a suggestion of
Jacques Tati
Jacques Tati (; born Jacques Tatischeff, ; 9 October 1907 – 5 November 1982) was a French mime, filmmaker, actor and screenwriter. In an ''Entertainment Weekly'' poll of the Greatest Movie Directors, he was voted 46th (a list of the top 50 was ...
.
Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen Hackman (January 30, 1930 – ) was an American actor. Hackman made his credited film debut in the drama ''Lilith (film), Lilith'' (1964). He later won two Academy Awards, his first for Academy Award for Best Actor, Best Actor for ...
, whose specialty has been believable, lived-in characters, gives one of his most likable performances." Gary Arnold of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' also praised Hackman's performance, calling it "the most endearing of his career, an impression of frustrated but resilient middle-class masculinity that should evoke as much recognition and rooting interest among men as women seemed to derive from
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn (born Edna Rae Gillooly; December 7, 1932) is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complex women in dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Emmy A ...
's role in ''
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
''Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'' is a 1974 American romantic comedy drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Robert Getchell. It stars Ellen Burstyn as a widow who travels with her preteen son across the Southwestern United St ...
''."Gary Arnold, "Savory Surprise," The Washington Post, Page C1, 7 March 1981
Awards
Streisand was nominated for a
Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress
Razzie Award for Worst Actress is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst actress of the previous year. Male actors performing in drag are eligible, as it is intended as a humorous award.
The following is a list ...
for her performance.
Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen Hackman (January 30, 1930 – ) was an American actor. Hackman made his credited film debut in the drama ''Lilith (film), Lilith'' (1964). He later won two Academy Awards, his first for Academy Award for Best Actor, Best Actor for ...
was nominated for a 2nd place
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor
The National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor is an annual award given by the National Society of Film Critics to honor the best leading actor of the year.
Winners
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Multiple winn ...
for his performance.
Box office
The movie was a
flop
Floating point operations per second (FLOPS, flops or flop/s) is a measure of computer performance in computing, useful in fields of scientific computations that require floating-point calculations.
For such cases, it is a more accurate measur ...
. It opened at No. 1 on the American film charts with an opening weekend of $1,391,000. The Independent Movie Data Base website lists the film's total U.S. gross as less than $4.5 million.
William Goldman
William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. Among other accolades, Goldman won two Aca ...
shared in ''Adventures in the Screen Trade'' that the original $3 million budget ballooned to $15 million, in part because of the addition of Streisand. With prints and advertising costs, Goldman reports the studio lost at least $20 million on the film.