What is essentially a character study of two likeable people working behind the scenes in the movies holds up nearly 40 years later as a gentle reminder of how relationships used to be portrayed in the media. Burt Reynolds and Goldie Hawn are a successful screenwriting team who are personally involved but have avoided getting married, up until now. Their working relationship is so comfortable that when they are writing, they can basically finish each other's sentences. So when out of the blue they decide to take the plunge, it becomes time for each of them to meet the parents.
Two of the great superstars of the 1970's and early 1980's make their only film appearance together, and while they wouldn't be my first romantic movie pair, they work together quite nicely. it is ironic that both Hawn and Reynolds are known for their off-screen relationships as much as their film careers, and I've always considered Hawn sort of a blonde sister to Reynolds' recent acts of the time, Sally Field. In fact, the role seems to have been written with Field in mind and retailored for Hawn's personality.
Other than one scene where Reynolds gets rather brutal with Hawn after an argument, Reynolds plays a very gentle character although it is obvious that he is living in a man's mentality and in spite of how much Hawn tries to make him, he'll never be able to read her mind. So with the couple going on the road, first to meet Hawn's parents in wintery Buffalo (Jessica Tandy and Barnard Hughes) and later going to the South to meet Reynolds' parents (Audra Lindley and Keenan Wynn), their views of two different marital lives clouds their judgment and when they return to work, it seems the magic is gone.
The four veteran actors practically steal the film from under their popular box-office stars with typical eccentricity that Hollywood writes for people over a certain age. Tandy complains openly that Hughes has lost an interest in sex while Hawn later find out just the opposite. Gregarious Lindley never stops taking pictures of everybody and everything, chattering up a storm, but never to the annoyance of her gruff but longtime faithful husband, the understated Wynn. Both Reynolds and Hawn are somewhat put off by their new in-laws who complain about not having had the opportunity to go to their wedding and by the time they are done with the older generation, the record of the music that had been playing for them for years seems to be skipping.
This film is one that simply just ranks as nice, not memorable or very good, but one that will leave you hankering for more popcorn, give you a few laughs and possibly singing the theme song that opens and closes the film like many others of the time. This could have dealt with people in relationships working together in any profession and could even have been about Broadway writers. But being set at the actual Warner Brothers Studio for the opening and closing segment, you get to see some vintage posters and enlarged stills of popular contract players from their past. That adds to the nostalgia and pretty much up the rating for me because how can you rank a film so treasured in the beauty of Hollywood's past? How do I keep the music playing? Tuning in to sweet, romantic comedies like this that somehow make me feel better about the human condition on those rare moments when I pick the right one to watch.
Two of the great superstars of the 1970's and early 1980's make their only film appearance together, and while they wouldn't be my first romantic movie pair, they work together quite nicely. it is ironic that both Hawn and Reynolds are known for their off-screen relationships as much as their film careers, and I've always considered Hawn sort of a blonde sister to Reynolds' recent acts of the time, Sally Field. In fact, the role seems to have been written with Field in mind and retailored for Hawn's personality.
Other than one scene where Reynolds gets rather brutal with Hawn after an argument, Reynolds plays a very gentle character although it is obvious that he is living in a man's mentality and in spite of how much Hawn tries to make him, he'll never be able to read her mind. So with the couple going on the road, first to meet Hawn's parents in wintery Buffalo (Jessica Tandy and Barnard Hughes) and later going to the South to meet Reynolds' parents (Audra Lindley and Keenan Wynn), their views of two different marital lives clouds their judgment and when they return to work, it seems the magic is gone.
The four veteran actors practically steal the film from under their popular box-office stars with typical eccentricity that Hollywood writes for people over a certain age. Tandy complains openly that Hughes has lost an interest in sex while Hawn later find out just the opposite. Gregarious Lindley never stops taking pictures of everybody and everything, chattering up a storm, but never to the annoyance of her gruff but longtime faithful husband, the understated Wynn. Both Reynolds and Hawn are somewhat put off by their new in-laws who complain about not having had the opportunity to go to their wedding and by the time they are done with the older generation, the record of the music that had been playing for them for years seems to be skipping.
This film is one that simply just ranks as nice, not memorable or very good, but one that will leave you hankering for more popcorn, give you a few laughs and possibly singing the theme song that opens and closes the film like many others of the time. This could have dealt with people in relationships working together in any profession and could even have been about Broadway writers. But being set at the actual Warner Brothers Studio for the opening and closing segment, you get to see some vintage posters and enlarged stills of popular contract players from their past. That adds to the nostalgia and pretty much up the rating for me because how can you rank a film so treasured in the beauty of Hollywood's past? How do I keep the music playing? Tuning in to sweet, romantic comedies like this that somehow make me feel better about the human condition on those rare moments when I pick the right one to watch.