Merci d'avoir été ma femme...

After several years as a comic book action hero, Burt Reynolds took a calculated career risk at becoming a romantic leading man in the 1979 comedy STARTING OVER and the risk paid off in spades. Reynolds turned in his best performance up to this point as Phil Potter, a writer whose wife (Candice Bergen) has just divorced him who enters, perhaps a bit too quickly, another relationship with a neurotic schoolteacher (Jill Clayburgh. This smartly directed comedy, lovingly directed by ALan J. Pakula hits all the right notes and introduces characters you care about. Bergen also opened up a whole new career for herself, showing a flair for light comedy, which resulted in her first Oscar nomination. Her musical seduction of Burt with "Better than Ever" is one of the funniest scenes in film comedies ever. Bergen's performance here was largely responsible for her being offered the role of Murphy Brown. Clayburgh (also nominated for an Oscar) is just as good, creating a quirky and heartbreaking character who evokes laughs and sympathy. It has been well documented over the years that Reynolds was deeply hurt when both of his leading ladies here received Oscar nominations and he did not. Then to add insult to injury, the Best Actress Oscar that year went to his girlfriend at the time, Sally Field. Burt should have been nominated for this film...it was beautifully controlled performance that was nothing like he had ever done before. Charles Durning and Frances Sternhage offer strong support as Phils' brother and sister-in-law and don't overlook those wonderful scenes with Burt's Divorced Men's support group. A winning romantic comedy that finally proved Burt Reynolds really knew how to act.

Starting Over is a great movie and another tribute to the late director, Alan Pakula, who could get the utmost out of his actors.In almost all his movies some cast member would win, or at least be nominated for, an Oscar -- Jane Fonda in Klute, Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice, Jason Robards in All the President's Men, and the two female leads in Starting Over. Yet Pakula seemed to be always under the radar and, in my opinion, never got the glory he deserved. His name is never brought up in discussions about the great directors. What a shame. When you watch Starting Over, notice how every actor -- from the leads to the smallest walk-on -- does an outstanding job. That's the Pakula touch.

Man, what a difference 20 years or so makes! I'm not sure when I saw this movie, but since it came out in 1979, and I saw it on TV (probably cable at my brother's house)-it was surely in the early 80s. I couldn't remember the movie very well (though I do distinctly remember Burt Reynolds taking the polaroids of Jill Clayburgh in the shower, and her laughing at the tall basketball player) but I knew that I thought it was funny. In fact it was funny enough to go on my short list of movies to watch again soon (you know that one that you never seem to get to). Well imagine my surprise when I saw this video in the bargain-bin of the video store here on the U.S. Army base in Yongsan Korea for two bucks!

Well I liked the movie back then, but I watched it with totally different eyes as a 37 year-old man. It was still funny, but in a much more relative way. Back then I thought Reynold's antics were charming, now I see them as irrepressible. I'm sure I thought Clayburgh's character was a little strange back then, now I see her as vulnerable and true.

This is a very good movie with numerous scenes that are funny and touching. In an industry flooded with banal romantic-comedies this should set the mark.

Although puzzlingly slow-moving, "Starting Over" is a gentle, funny film about a newly-divorced man attempting to date again. I loved it when Burt Reynolds (in a benign but amiable performance) hits the furniture store to fill up his apartment, but then sits in his studio surrounded by all the new pieces and now has nothing to do. Or when girlfriend Jill Clayburgh shouts at him, "I am no one-nighter! I am a teacher! I am going for my Masters!" The movie doesn't know what to do with its characters near the end--taking us down a few roads which disappointed me--but otherwise it's a smart, subtle comedy and the appealing players make the most of it. **1/2 out of ****

"Starting Over" works very well because it's a film made for and by adults. And it's got some very funny moments.

Yes, it's got all the trappings of a typical "ROMCOM" but back in 1979, the ROMCOM formula had not developed into the hackneyed, tiresome concept that it became. By the late 90's, the style that "Starting Over" began seems to have expired (it arguably reached it's zenith circa 1994 with "Sleeping in Seattle". Whether one liked that movie or not, all the trappings of the stylized ROMCOM formula were firmly and grossly used in that one.) But I digress.

"Starting Over" works so well because of Pakula's typical very low keyed direction which allows James L. Brooks' screenplay to shine. But this film would be nothing without the cast. Clayburgh is fine but of the three leads, she's the least appealing. Don't get me wrong. She's an engaging presence in the film and it's quite understandable why Reynolds is attracted to her (except for a shower scene in which, to me, she over reacts). The hands down winners in this film are Reynolds and especially Bergen. Bergen tapped into a completely unexpected flair for comedy as a royally flaky song writing ex-wife of Reynolds. She's a gas especially in an hysterical scene when she begins singing a disco ditty ("Better Than Ever") in a hotel room while trying to reconcile with Reynolds.

Reynolds is a complete revelation. Gone is his trademark mustache and cockiness and it works to marvelous effect. He's mature, low key and completely likable. It would've been so easy for Reynolds to play down the part to the point where he appears to be sleepwalking (ala William Hurt in "The Accidental Tourist"). But here, though he's depressed, he's also alive. He's just a guy going through something that he wishes he didn't have to. He loves/likes his ex-wife and can't understand why he's the odd man out.

From a plot and structural standpoint, "Starting Over" isn't much. It's setup and resolution are standard and completely unremarkable. Aside from the wonderful cast and good writing, the film is photographed beautifully by Sven Nyquist. This Swede (who was Ingmar Bergman's chief Director of Photography) knows how to film chilly northern environments and he gives Boston in winter an appealing glow.