Made for Each Other

Why isn't there a video of this hilarious film, which is seldom shown on television. One of many priceless snatches of dialogue -- PANDORA (ecstatic) Mother, last night I had my first orgasm. MOTHER: Orgasm? In my day, we didn't have them.

I've loved this movie ever since I saw it when it came out. I have a tape, which is deteriorating, copied off Encore. In general, the film translates well to tape--the biggest loss are car scenes where two-shots become alternating one-shots, and the squabble outside the diner, a three shot in the theater (inscrutable dude leaning against store shutters), now mostly a two-shot, which really removes a lot of the dry wit. I'm writing this because I see that the DVD has been released on September 28 for $4.95, but I haven't found any information on who released it, where I can get it, or anything else. Does someone out there know the answer? I'd like to buy a replacement for my old tape and copies for my friends. Letterbox would be great! But I won't hold my breath.

Great comedy is rarer than the unicorn. Why keep this funniest of funny films from us? How about the initial scene with the encounter group and the hyper-anxiety frazzled to the bone woman complaining about the toilet that has leaked for years on end and has driven her far beyond mad. To which another male group participant meekly offers, "Did you try jiggling the handle?"

Joe Bologna and Renee Taylor hit a homer with this one. Unfortunately, the critics must have been busy at the concession stands when they rounded the bases. Where is the DVD? You might not find a better acted script or one that seems so believable despite its over-the-top characters. Giggy and Pandora are unforgettable as evidenced by the resonance the film left with me even after these 35 years since its release, the first and last time I saw it. The scene in which Pandora meets Giggy's parents and relatives at dinner is a classic. Director Robert Bean allowed the top notch cast to relate as they would in a real life situation, and it worked wonderfully. Joe Bologna and Renee Taylor are under-appreciated national treasures!

Saw this film for the first time tonight, on Turner Movie Classics.

Having missed the first few minutes, and altogether ignorant of the film, I didn't know that it was 30 years old. But the principal's bright orange, full-length coat of an unidentified material, brought on a rush of uncertainty. She is no beauty, this woman - yet she reminds me of (somebody) Derisher, of "Nanny", only rubber-faced and unpretty.

There's a great deal in common and feel with Neil Simmon's plays - the pain and torment of love among the unloveable, e.g., the girl friend kicks her boy friend in the groin and asks, "How much do you love me now?").

The parental years of the principals are identical to "Torchlight Trilogy" - grotesque and self-parody. The principal's vulnerability is totally believable and rather marvelous.

Thirty years on, there's a lot of elemental clinical psychology

to "Made for Each Other". And one wants to keep that in mind.

The Neil Simmon-like crying scene at the end was highly effective and moving until a moment before the clench, when one realized that one was a voyeur to a dreadful, cathartic and eventually successful, if not somewhat mangled, love match.

I agree that this is "Like real life" but it's also Felinni-esque and somewhat grotesque. Probably the most moving scene for me was the New Year's Eve dinner scene when the mother gets hysterical, and her son leaves the room to tell her to friggin' SHUT UP! Killing. --And yet highly poignant with the poor Jewish guest sitting there getting slayed.

I didn't dislike the movie, and did laugh out loud at times. It was utterly professional at all times, never manipulative - but there is a sense of passe to it that goes beyond the orange lip stick and tomato-red bola. En fin, glad that I saw it.