It seems everyone loved this movie; I will offer the first dissenting opinion here. Supposedly the 1980's ushered in the "me" generation, but after watching this film, one has to wonder if it didn't begin earlier. Lenny Cathrow (Charles Grodin) has got to be one of the most selfish characters on film.
He marries a nice enough gal, Lila (Jeannie Berlin, daughter of the director, Elaine May), but almost instantly shows contempt for her - "buyer's remorse"? On the third day of his honeymoon, he meets a (rich) spoiled college kid, Kelly (Cybill Shepherd), whose beauty and laugh captivate him. I should mention that Lenny and Lila are New York Jews and Kelly is a blonde mid-Westerner from Minneapolis. The fact that Lenny may never have seen a WASP like Kelly while growing up in the city is hardly an excuse for his actions, and Berlin's character is hardly a stereotypical (repugnant, overindulged) Jewish American Princess.
Sure, the road-trip to Miami, during which Lenny all-too-quickly grew to hate his bride (one wonders how he ever chose to marry her in the first place), was hardly ideal. But someone who'd spent three years in the service of his country should show a little more maturity than he does; the story recalls Tennessee Williams's play, and the much better film "Period of Adjustment (1962)" - Jim Hutton's character was also ex-military. Suddenly, anything Lila does (almost nothing Lenny shouldn't have noticed while dating) is distasteful to her groom. Is it possible that he was a virgin and we're to believe that their wedding night sex was too disillusioning for him?
So, Lenny decides to dump his newlywed wife to pursue Kelly, whose attraction to him is a mystery; it appears she's only toying with the young bridegroom until the incredible (and disappointing) end when he wins her away from her disapproving father (Eddie Albert, his performance being the film's only highlight). I can enjoy a movie with unredeemable characters, as long as the plot is plausible.
He marries a nice enough gal, Lila (Jeannie Berlin, daughter of the director, Elaine May), but almost instantly shows contempt for her - "buyer's remorse"? On the third day of his honeymoon, he meets a (rich) spoiled college kid, Kelly (Cybill Shepherd), whose beauty and laugh captivate him. I should mention that Lenny and Lila are New York Jews and Kelly is a blonde mid-Westerner from Minneapolis. The fact that Lenny may never have seen a WASP like Kelly while growing up in the city is hardly an excuse for his actions, and Berlin's character is hardly a stereotypical (repugnant, overindulged) Jewish American Princess.
Sure, the road-trip to Miami, during which Lenny all-too-quickly grew to hate his bride (one wonders how he ever chose to marry her in the first place), was hardly ideal. But someone who'd spent three years in the service of his country should show a little more maturity than he does; the story recalls Tennessee Williams's play, and the much better film "Period of Adjustment (1962)" - Jim Hutton's character was also ex-military. Suddenly, anything Lila does (almost nothing Lenny shouldn't have noticed while dating) is distasteful to her groom. Is it possible that he was a virgin and we're to believe that their wedding night sex was too disillusioning for him?
So, Lenny decides to dump his newlywed wife to pursue Kelly, whose attraction to him is a mystery; it appears she's only toying with the young bridegroom until the incredible (and disappointing) end when he wins her away from her disapproving father (Eddie Albert, his performance being the film's only highlight). I can enjoy a movie with unredeemable characters, as long as the plot is plausible.