Paternidad

This is one of Burt Reynolds best from the 80's. Also starring Beverly D'Angelo in one of her best comedic roles, "Paternity" is a very funny, warm movie that is 20 years old. Burt is having a mid-life crisis and decides that he wants a son, but being the solid bachelor that he is, doesn't want a wife to go along. He decides to pay Beverly $50,000 to be his surrogate mother and have his son. A lot of funny moments and a great cast of co-stars make this a movie that you can watch over and over again. Interestingly enough, while watching this film I was having a paternity test done by www.dnacenter.com to find out who the real father of my baby was (I know, pretty crazy - eh?). Needless to say, it wasn't Burt's. :)

Paternity tells the story of a self centered man who just fall into a rout when he suddenly felt that he has no legacy in him. He decides to get a surrogate AND develops a relationship with a young musician who is in deep need of money for her music education.

I actually did like it until it tried to create a romantic narrative between the leads. There is little to no reason for it AND the separation anxiety being the main gist of the romance is just plain STUPID or her just letting him in after he goes out philandering for the giggles. They did not built it well enough chemistry between them to be honest AND some scenes where just long replay of earlier ones. From reading the trivia about this film, might have been affected by the fact SAG was under strike then lol.

Otherwise, this can also be viewed as a great travelogue into 70s New York. Beautiful shot within the river going through some famous spots in NYC lead by the creepy camp master in Sleepaway Camp.

Very Soft Recommendation.

PS: From reading the surrogacy wikipedia page, this was shockingly possible. Surrogacy during this period was only through artificial insemination or through natural sex. A Surrogacy Contract was only first drafted on 1975 AND IVF would only be publicly available by 1986, which kinda lines things up.

I was watching a marathon of National Lampoon vacation flix, and I instantly thought of this movie when I thought of Beverly D'Angelo. She's done many, many memorable movies over the years. Hair, the John Candy flick Summer Rental, and this one are standouts. Suburban Mom roles for Beverly. Odd, but she does it well.

This movie is all about Beverly, and Burt allows it. Which I think is very cool. Because she excels in the role. About as serious as an 80's RomCom can stand to be.

Buddy Evans (Burt Reynolds) is the most eligible bachelor in New York managing Madison Square Garden. He's 44 and something is missing from his life. With his friends Larry (Norman Fell) and Kurt (Paul Dooley)'s advise, he decides to find a surrogate mother with whom to have a son. The search runs into various roadblocks including a misunderstanding with interior designer Jenny (Lauren Hutton). Maggie (Beverly D'Angelo) is a waitress at his diner hangout who gets accepted to study music in Paris. While chasing after Jenny, Buddy gets into a cab with Maggie. Buddy loses Jenny but Maggie needs the money and accepts the unusual proposal.

Burt Reynolds uses all of his roguish charms to make this one work. There are warning signs that my young mind probably didn't understand while watching this back in the day. Watching it today, Burt hanging out with a bunch of kids is awkward at best. Since it's Burt, it's still pretty funny. The most memorable sequence is chasing Lauren Hutton. It's so memorable that I conflated her character with Maggie. This has some awkward fun while able to maintaining a light-hearted feel.

The bright spots in this movie are Elizabeth Ashley and New York City itself. They both photograph great. Burt is very natural and it is always good to see old pros like Juanita Moore & Norman Fell do their thing. Unfortunately Burt and Beverly have absolutely no chemistry what so ever. Beverly delivers her lines like she is reading them for the first time. Can't say anything about Lauren Huttin who I usually like because I missed the first 20 minutes and thats obviously when she was in it. That about sums up this typical 80's over produced movie. Burt plays a New York city bachelor who wants a kid but not a wife. Beverly plays the lucky gal who will have his baby for cash without any emotional strings attached. Do they fall in love? What do you think?