Divorce à Hollywood

Irreconcilable Differences is one of the best movies of the 80s and quite possibly the most underrated love story ever made. For whatever reason, audiences chose to ignore this well-written and well-acted gem in 1984. I think it may have been due to the marketing campaign -- they tried to sell it as a cutesy gimmick movie where a precocious child "divorces" her parents. But that isn't what this movie is about at all. This movie is able to provide strong commentary about failed relationships, especially when egos, power, and greed substitute for the things that should really matter in a person's life. In addition, it creates a viable love story that doesn't resort to typical Hollywood formulas when it creates the conflicts that may or may not separate these two people who we know belong with each other. We the audience get to see them actually fall in love on the screen before our very eyes. You would think this should be fairly standard, but how many movies can you recall (especially recently) that you can say that about? This is done through great acting, writing, and directing. Notice how Shelley Long's voice changes over the years as she goes through the various changes in her life. Watch Ryan O'Neal's eyes toward the end as you can actually see an inner peace that he never had earlier.

These are just a few of the great things I loved about this great, heartwarming, and underappreciated film. If you want a great love story with some very good comic and dramatic moments as well, rent this movie! You won't regret it.

"Irreconcilable Differences" is a very good seriocomedy about a Hollywood couple who are sued for divorce by their 9 year-old daughter. Ryan O'Neal, Shelley Long, and Drew Barrymore are well cast as the family torn apart by career, jealousy, and a little girl caught in the middle who just can't take it anymore with her parents' constant fighting. So as a result, she takes them to court, and the three members of the family tell their story (shown in flashback). Directed by Charles Shyer from a screenplay by Shyer and Nancy Meyers, "Irreconcilable Differences" shows us what its like to be in the Hollywood film industry which is fascinatingly detailed here. One hilarious scene is the part when acclaimed film director O'Neal is shooting a movie which appears to be a musical remake of "Gone With The Wind". A very young Sharon Stone stars as the actress playing the character modeled after Scarlett O'Hara. I was cracking up during that scene because it's naturally funny. But there are touching moments too, especially the early scenes when the O'Neal and Long characters first meet. Plus the scenes after they have their daughter are sweet and tender. "Irreconcilable Differences" is an underrated movie that deserved more attention than it received when released in 1984. It's a well-acted, well-written film.

*** (out of four)

Say what you will about the Shyer-Meyers team ("Private Benjamin", "Father Of The Bride", "Baby Boom"), they know how to craft a movie, often exploiting every ounce of sentiment from their scripts. "Irreconcilable Differences" is somewhat of a departure for them however, a depiction of neurotic movie people, denizens of Hollywood, who have hardly any good points. As soon as the young couple finds success, it's a rich road downhill. The plot set-up has youngster Drew Barrymore trying to emancipate herself away from her famous mom and dad, and the H-Wood high-life is shown as both cause and effect. A terrific sequence involving Sharon Stone in a quasi-musical version of "Gone With The Wind" is satiric comic genius, yet the movie is so hard on its players, so brittle and tough, it's difficult to shake off the bad vibes even as the third act winds down to a sunny conclusion. Perceptively, the screenplay includes many awful (and awfully funny) truths about marriage, money and careers, but the cynical undermining of the picture may put fluff-oriented viewers off. ***1/2 from ****

The actors in this movie make the characters seem very real and well-rounded. Drew Barrymore is Casey Brodsky, a child whose parents are going through a divorce. She can't take it anymore because they keep blaming/using her, so she decides to go to court to see if she can divorce herself from her parents. The movie is Casey's story as she tells it in court. It's a very cute movie for the whole family and I'm sure most of us have already seen it at least twice, but if you haven't then I'd recommend it.

Drew pretty much steals the show as the deadpan "reasoner"

character: a child coping in the midst of two selfish,

immature adults. I'd compare her to Tatum O'Neal in Paper

Moon or Mary Badham in To Kill a Mockingbird for the way

she anchors the audience's perspective as the madness (competently related here by Ryan and Shelley) spins around her.

The real comedy lies in the "screwball" plot twist to which the film's title refers (we learn, early in the plot, that it is little Drew's character, not the parents, who is suing for divorce), and especially the story's underlying satire of the entertainment industry. Highlights include how Albert/Ryan's plummeting career as a director parodies those of Cimino (dust, smoke and flies a la Heaven's Gate) and Bogdanovich (starring untalented girlfriend in multi-million-dollar flops). An Andy Warhol style painting of Shelly Long as Marilyn in the background of one scene is just too funny, an example of how understated the true humor can be in this otherwise broadly-played farce.

Some points are disturbing, though: it's made a joke that Ryan is having an anxiety attack instead of a heart attack (try having one), or that his visitation rights are threatened if he doesn't make child support payments (an interesting social comment). Considering the real-life ups and downs of Ryan O'Neal's and Shelly Long's careers, however, I'd say the film's a roaring success.