The Competition

First the flaws: the extraneous characters of the various competitors are pretty blatant stereotypes, not offensive, but not particularly compelling either. The time spent on them would have been better spent on further development of the relationship between Paul (Richard Dreyfuss) and Heidi (Amy Irving) two pianists facing off in the same competition who fall in love while preparing for it. Secondly, the "contemporary" music...it was released in 1980, but all you hear in bars and at parties is disco music. It makes everything seem a little too quaint and cute to be real.

Moments of greatness: The clashes and arguments that ensue between Paul and Heidi make it obvious why they fall in love, but it happens very quickly. Which is fine in a standard romance, but that isn't what this movie is. These two people are complex individuals with various insecurities and desires that make the love story so great, so interesting and so real. But the ending feels strange...a lot happens before the film's resolution, and leaves me feeling that the characters haven't been explored enough. The movie's shining moment is during the second half of the competition, when Paul has already played and Heidi proceeds to blow him out of the water. Irving's performance onstage is totally convincing, and Dreyfuss conveys an incredible amount of emotion and intelligence simply in his reactions to the piece.

The tension here is incredible, and very, very real. A good movie--one that dares to show its characters in an unglamorous, real way few movies have

The stars of this film spent months learning how to play piano and mimic the finger movements of piano prodigies. That is one reason it feels authentic. Its two stars, Richard Dreyfuss and Amy Irving, do a good job of balancing the drama of a prestigious piano competition with the joys of young love.

Lee Remick is wonderful as the protective mentor of Irving. And Sam Wanamaker is convincing as the Bernstein-like conductor who oversees the competition and rules his own little musical kingdom.

The story has to do with whether or not the two young pianists can compete in the cut-throat world of career-making competitions and still maintain a relationship. The script never becomes too mawkish. And the musical excerpts are a bonus.

Richard Dreyfuss (Mr. Holland's Opus, The Good Bye Girl), plays Paul Dietrich. a very problematic and sometimes annoying pianist. Paul is supported by his parents that puts pressure on him. He is also thirty years old and this is the cutting edge for this type of music competition. This is his last competition. All he wants to do is win, no matter how, and is hurting himself because of it. Amy Irving (Yentl), plays another pianist who is much more relaxed with herself and her music. Her teacher, Greta Vandemann, played by Lee Remick (Anatomy of a Murder) is possessive about Heidi. Greta Vandemann can trace her teachers all the way up to Beethoven himself! Heidi does not have the pressures that Paul has, she does not even care about winning. She stays in this beautiful house in San Francisco where she can practice on her nice piano, and Paul stays in a cheap hotel. He is a walking volcano. He is petulant, arrogant and annoying but at the same time can cry, which shows that he is human, vulnerable and also very afraid. He hides his feelings but it shows in his behavior. There are other musicians: the black guy who likes practicing the piano naked, the Italian who can play only one concerto but he is really looking for a way to become another De Niro, Pacino or Travolta. There is a very young Russian that adds a little suspense to the plot. They are all stereotypes. My favorite scenes are: Paul teaching Heidi how to drive a car; Heidi stopping playing in the middle of her performance because the middle register is uneven; how beautifully she played Prokofiev ‘s 3rd Concert; Paul been astonished because he was unaware that she could really play; Paul telling Greta that must to be a tremendous responsibility in having to know everything. Greta jumping for joy because she is always so proper. That shows another side to her. This is an enjoyable movie especially for pianists and musicians.

The Competition (1980)

The Main Cast:

Richard Dreyfuss (Paul Dietrich) Amy Irving (Heidi Joan Schoonover) Lee Remick (Greta Vandemann)

Two concert pianists, played by Richard Dreyfuss and Amy Irving, fall in love at a prestigeous competition they are finalists in, but there is much more to the story than that. The film gives an insight as to what takes place in those competitions during which the participants must be aware of and protect themselves from the "competitive edge" of the other pianists. The acting by the entire cast and the directing is exceptional, but what is more exceptional than that is the fingersynching of the actors while appearing to actually play the piano. The late Lee Remick is outstanding as Amy Irving's teacher. A thoroughly enjoyable film with great acting, script, direction and music. A tip of the hat should go to Jean Evensen Shaw and her assistant Dorothy Hull for tutoring the actors about where, when and how to place their fingers on the keyboard. But, since nothing is ever perfect, I can still imagine James Mason, who wasn't in the movie, rapping the knuckles of a few of the pianists because of poor hand position. Richard Dreyfuss was the worst. Amy Irving was perfect! She had her hands always above the keys and did a stellar job of fingersynching the playing of Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto #3, which is actually played by Daniel Pollack. The 5 minutes and 25 seconds Amy Irving spent at the piano during the performance of that piece was one of the highlights of the film. I can't praise this film too highly. However, the end left something to be desired, although not as much as one would think. But I would be remiss in my praise if I didn't at least give the lion's share of the credit to Joel Oliansky for all the hard work he and his crew put into the making of this film and getting it to the public.

I managed to watch this on Amazon streaming movies. The central characters are world-class pianists and even though they didn't play their own piano selections they faked it really well.

Richard Dreyfuss (actually 32) is Paul Dietrich and Amy Irving (actually 26) is Heidi Joan Schoonover. They had met at some random event some time back but now find themselves as competitors in a world-class piano competition. We know there is more than a spark of mutual attraction but while Heidi is more social and relaxed Paul feels he has to be totally focused to win the competition, because of that outlook he often acts like a real jerk. Maybe deep down he is a jerk. But a lovable one.

My understanding is this didn't do well at the boxoffice 40 years ago but viewed today it comes off really well. Both Dreyfuss and Irving shine in their respective roles. The music is nice.

This is 2020 and what is socially accepted has changed, drastically in some cases. Near the end at a party celebrating the winners one contestant, a young man, grabs the butt of an attractive 40-something woman who walks by with her date or husband. She just turns to him and smiles.