User reviews

This is a very sweet story about a love triangle between a woman, her boyfriend, and the ghost of her dead husband. The subtext about getting on with your life after suffering a tragedy seemed heartfelt rather than manufactured; and Sally Field was, well, the incredible actress that she's always been.

I think I may have been one of the few people who saw this film in the theaters, but I really enjoyed KISS ME GOODBYE, a lighthearted comedy about a widow (Sally Field)preparing to remarry, who, days before her wedding, is visited by the ghost of her deceased first husband (James Caan), who was a Broadway director and choreographer. The story goes to all the familiar places that you would expect it to, but it is played with such an exuberant energy that you can't help but start to care for these people. Field and Caan are in top form and Jeff Bridges is at his adorably nerdy best as Field's new fiancée (a precursor to his performance in THE MIRROR HAS TWO FACES). There's also a brief, but memorable turn by the late Claire Trevor as Field's mother. A charming romantic fantasy that will grow on you upon repeated viewings.

This comedy gives the meaning to move on with your life. Oscar winner Sally Field plays a widow who moves back into the house that she and her late husband(James Caan) lived in. She has a fiancé that Jolly doesn't like, and she is the only one that sees him. Everywhere she goes, Jolly follows. Jeff Bridges plays the fiancé who thinks Kay is a total nut case. He himself isn't quite all there. He sees quite a few things that will make Kay question his sanity. There were quite a few scenes that are total classic. Like where the electricity when haywire and the guy fixing it get locked in. Or when the dog started to act funny, and the fiancé just wanted to go all the way nuts. Then there's the part where the priest left his empty booze bottle and the fiancé slips on it. The cast of the movie are great, including celebrity chef Alan Haufrect. Not many people remember this movie, but I do remember the preview and premiere. You would have a ghost of a chance to miss this classic! 3 out of 5 stars!

Very attractive cast propels this comedy/fantasy about the ghost of a deceased husband (Caan) who pays a visit to his widow (Field) as she's about to remarry (Bridges). Robert Mulligan's touch of genius is at work one more time. The story may be a bit strained at times, but the results are satisfactory altogether in the end.

The Brazilian film "Dona Flor and her Two Husbands" was the model for this Sally Field vehicle. As directed by Robert Mulligan, it's mildly funny, but nothing to brag about when compared with the original movie directed by Bruno Barreto. Better yet, why not pick up the immensely funny Jorge Amado novel? If memory serves me right, it was translated from the Portuguese by Harriet de Onis and it's a delight to read.

In this version, young Kay, now happily engaged to Rupert, wants to fix the townhouse where she lived with Jolly, her late husband, in which this theater genius has died. Well, little prepares her for the sudden appearance of the dead man.

Jolly comes at the most inappropriate times; when she's in the sack, especially. It's enough to drive the would-be-hunk husband to think twice about what he's going to get into. Ruppert loves Kay, but he would like her to exorcise the impish Jolly.

Sally Field is at her perkiest in the film. James Caan does a fantastic job as the dead Jolly. Jeff Bridges is perfectly befuddled as Rupert, the man who can't comprehend what's going on. Claire Trevor makes an elegant Charlotte, who is Kay's mother and can't seem to see eye to eye to her future son-in-law. Paul Dooley, Mildred Natwick, William Prince, contribute to make the movie better than what it is.

On the other hand, the much superior Brazilian film had an edge and an underlying naughtiness that this Hollywood product doesn't have. The American version is a pale reminder of what happens when a better film is remade without the wit, elegance and humor of the movie it's trying to imitate. Also, Bruno Barreto's film had the advantage of having the sultry Sonia Braga in the title role and great star turns by Jose Wilker and Mauro Mendonca. See the video or the DVD version of this film and you'll be amazed of what this film should have looked like.

So where do I begin? 'Kiss Me Goodbye' (KMG) starts out pretty well. A widow (Sally Field) is starting to reclaim her life after her husband's (James Caan) accidental death three years earlier. She's now contemplating marriage to her new beau, (Jeff Bridges), much to the dissatisfaction of her mother (Claire Trevor). I will admit it was a pleasure seeing Ms. Trevor in what would end up being her last film. Too bad this was her final bow after a most distinguished career.. The young couple decide to inhabit the same beautiful NYC brownstone she lived in with her first husband. This is where it starts going downhill.

The ghost of the widow's first husband appears making plans difficult for the widow. Shes the only person who can see him. Caan clearly doesn't belong here. This picture might have worked better with just Field and Bridges exploring their future together. They can easily carry a movie. However, now with the 'ghost plot', Field overacts terribly trying to hide the fact that Caan's spirit is present. Comedy isn't her forte. The script also suffers as a result. Bridge's character is reduced to a boring boyfriend who nobody likes, including the dog and her mother. I won't go on further, but this is not something I'd recommend to the fans of Ms. Fields, Mr. Bridges and Mr. Caan. I gave it four out of ten stars only because of Ms. Trevor's inclusion in the film and the precious dog who might be the funniest character than any of the others. I also liked the Dusty Springfield's opening number which should have been nominated for best song. It might be the best thing about KMG.

Apparently "Kiss Me Goodbye" is a remake of another movie. I didn't see the first movie and really don't care about it, so I wish people doing reviews would stop comparing them. This film isn't going to win any best movie award, but it wasn't designed to. It's just a funny movie. Laugh and enjoy it. Too many reviewers fancy themselves as movie experts and all we "little people" desperately need their advice. Hogwash!

I realize this movie is a remake of the 1978 Brazilian classic 'Dona Flor and Her Husbands' with the stunning Sonia Braga..but some things should be left alone. While I adore Sally Field, she seems majorly miscast as Kay Villano, widow of philandering choreographer Jolly Villano, played by James Caan, who also seems woefully miscast. Jeff Bridges is delightful as Rupert, the befuddled Egyptologist in love with Kay, and a hilarious standout, especially during the scenes in the diner, and at the inn. Claire Trevor is smashing as Kay's mother, an acid tongued woman who still holds her late son in law in high regard. The dialogue seems stilted at times, and some of the humor forced, with a silly subplot about exorcism. There is a basic sweetness about the movie, and the thought of a ghost of a husband wanting his wife to move on irresistible (which 'Ghost' did so much better 8 years later). But Robert Mulligan (who helmed 'Summer of '42 and 'The Man in the Moon'..two classics if you've never seen them) lacks that light touch that would have made this a classic. This is like a fine meal, elegantly prepared, but after you've had a bite..it leaves an unpleasant taste on your palate.

This is an Americanization of the popular Brazilian film DONA FLOR AND HER TWO HUSBANDS (1976), which I own in a rather dismal print recorded off French Cable TV but haven't yet watched. Though a minor effort by this director, as a romantic comedy/fantasy – especially for a title emanating from the 1980s – it's fair, aided in no small measure by a good cast: Sally Field as the woman torn between two loves; James Caan as ghostly husband No. 1, a star Broadway choreographer; Jeff Bridges as her current "boring" intended, an Egyptologist (ironically, he gets the best lines); Claire Trevor as Fields' outspoken mum, who adores Caan but can't stomach Bridges; and Paul Dooley as Bridges' assistant, who also happens to be an ex-priest. The film is a pleasant enough trifle but, obviously, a long way behind the Noel Coward/David Lean BLITHE SPIRIT (1945) – which had one husband and two 'sparring' wives – or, for that matter, the innumerable screwball comedy classics (usually featuring Cary Grant as the husband who won't give up his bride and eventually gets her back) of the late 1930s and early 40s. To get back to the highlights: Bridges embarrasses Field at an isolated resort (to which Caan is also 'invited') by pretending to see himself a former acquaintance; when another vacationer witnessing the scene helpfully admits that she can barely make her out too, Bridges blows his top and insults her in front of the woman's perplexed husband! During the wedding rehearsal, Bridges brings Dooley along to drive away Caan's ghost once and for all: asking him to remain inconspicuous throughout, the would-be exorcist immediately begins loudly spouting Latin chants, with Bridges snapping: "You call that being nonchalant?!" Finally, during this same climactic sequence, Trevor's amateur electrician husband gets locked in the attic, the door to which is guarded by their pet dog; believing the man's pleas for help to be coming from the latter, Dooley alerts Bridges that Caan's ghost has possessed the canine…with the result that the Egyptologist then has a hard time explaining to the guests his attempt to strangle it!

A light movie that is a lot of fun to watch, 'Kiss Me Goodbye' is also not the first movie you think of when doing a filmography for Sally Field, Jeff Bridges or James Caan. But they are all perfectly cast in this comedy that has a lot going for it.

James Caan plays Jolly, the Bob Fosse-like (well, without the cigarettes and open heart surgery) and deceased husband of Sally Field, who reappears the week Field is marrying a 'nerd', Jeff Bridges. Only Sally can see or hear James Caan so it sets up a lot of comedy, most of which is hilarious. Everyone liked Jolly, alot, including Sally, and Jeff is less likable. He's like Cary Grant in 'Bringing Up Baby', down to the research job at the museum doing what Claire Trevor calls 'digging up dead people.'

Stand-out scene - the three of them going to the country for a relaxing weekend, and all hell breaking loose.

Claire Trevor is funny as Sally's domineering mother, Paul Dooley is his usual dependable self as a former priest who gets involved when Bridges decides to 'exorcise' the ghost of Jolly, and Mildred Natwick is the owner of the country bed-and-breakfast.

Touching at the end, funny most of the way through...8/10.

This picture went nowhere when it was released in 1982, going almost immediately to cable, mostly because it didn't match the Brazilian movie on which it's based. But seen on its own now, after more than twenty years, it's a well made, well written and played comedy for adults, especially when compared to the stupidly vulgar and juvenile "comedies" produced now. It does descend to the "sitcom" level now and again (underlined by Ralph Burns' incidental score, which "mickey mouses" every move, in the manner of 40s comedies) but still, it has many sweet and touching moments.

The cast is exceptional, with everyone well-cast for their roles. The choice that I've only recently "gotten" is Claire Trevor as Sally Field's character's mother. Trevor made a career of playing "dames" (as in her brilliant showing as Edward G. Robinson's alcoholic moll in "Key Largo"), and I never got why SHE was chosen to play the society-matron mother in this, a "comeback" role for her. And why should she "adore" the character Kay's first husband so much, a womanizing dancer/choreographer, more than the stalwart, upper middle class WASP-Y scientist, played with quiet amusement by Jeff Bridges, whom Kay has chosen as her second husband, perhaps a more "appropriate" choice? But one telling line hints at something: Bridges character's comment about a hat the mother is wearing in one scene: "Are batteries included?" Perhaps the mother isn't quite what she seems, not from a "society" family but an actress who married into money? Someone who ALMOST "gets" it, the way to dress and talk and behave, but not quite... Now THAT makes sense for the choice of Trevor for the role. But this is the only hint in the writing. To me this is an intriguing explanation.

I see a number of negative comments about this film and most seem to stem from the viewpoint that Kiss Me Goodbye isn't a good reproduction of the Brazilian film that inspired it. That maybe so, but I am a big fan of Jeff Bridges and James Caan and because of that I really liked this movie.

There were a number of scenes which were funny and light. I have also read that according to Caan he didn't enjoy making this movie and took time away from acting afterwards. Regardless of that I really enjoyed him in his role as Jolly.

I try and accept this film as an independent work and not view it in the shadow of the Brazilian movie, that maybe difficult for some, but I recommend Kiss Me Goodbye as a fun entertaining film.

Kay (Sally Field) lost her charmer husband Broadway choreographer Jolly (James Caan) when he fell down the staircase at home. Three years later, she is finally ready to move back home. She wants to marry stiff Egypt archaeologist Rupert (Jeff Bridges). He is concerned about her past with Jolly and then his ghost shows up. Only Kay can see him and he's not satisfied with Rupert.

Sally is adorably flustered. She works really hard to sell this. Jeff Bridges is in a tougher position. He has to stay adorable despite disbelieving Kay. James Caan is perfectly good as the charming cad. It does get a bit sitcom-like at times. The movie is basically sold on the three legged acting foundation. This is a remake of a Brazilian film which I have not seen.

American reworking of Brazil's "Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands" manages to drain all the vitality (and sex) out of the original recipe, replacing it with sitcom bickering. A seemingly normal, happy woman on the verge of getting married a second time is visited by the ghost of her late first husband, who then decides to stick around. Whereas the original found its impetus in the joy of the situation (and Dona Flor's embarrassment of riches), this glossily-produced but static, juvenile film just sees the central situation as something to argue over. In the leads, Sally Field, a surprisingly relaxed James Caan as Jolly the Ghost, and Jeff Bridges all try hard, but the screenplay refuses to drop the psychological ramifications; the picture is a comedy but it doesn't remember to have fun. Perhaps Robert Mulligan was the wrong director for a modern farce. Indeed, the movie is uptight and sexless, and Field is put in the unenviable position of constantly defending herself. ** from ****

The idea of a loved one's ghost coming back to taunt, tease or help one who misses her or him, is as old as story-telling and the making of movies. Sometimes it works, and other times it doesn't. Unfortunately, for 20th Century Fox, this one didn't work. In spite of a considerable cast of the day - Sally Field, James Caan and Jeff Bridges, "Kiss Me Goodbye" is lacking in most of what it's touted for - comedy and romance.

There is so little comedy in this film that it might be false advertising to bill it as such. And there's about as much spark of romance between Kay and Jolly, and Kay and Rupert, as there is between the animated cartoon characters Tom and Jerry. One can understand James Caan's later dismay over having made this film. His role as Jolly is rueful. He seems to be going through his lines rote, with no life or feeling, and only a smile pasted on his face. And, if he had any more energy in his brief tap dancing bits, one might thing he actually could have been on stage in Broadway.

It's hard to understand how Sally Field received a Golden Globe nomination for her role as Kay. The best thing to say about her role is that she over acted most of the time. At least that showed some life compared to the rest of the cast. But it stood out like a sore thumb, and gave the film an aura of amateur theater. Jeff Bridges came close to giving a capable performance as Rupert. But his character is so uncertain and wishy-washy with no passion for Kay. The rest of the cast play into the pale of poor performances, for the most part.

Director Robert Mulligan received an Oscar nomination for "To Kill a Mockingbird" in 1962. He directed a few other good films, but he clearly can't guide comedy to fulfillment. That may be a little harsh on him, because the screenplay for this film is very poor. This film was based on a 1976 Brazilian comedy-fantasy. That had significant changes including its setting and time, and it was a huge success. But this is a film that is best forgotten - by audiences as well as by the cast. In years when the top films were grossing $250 million to $350 million, this film was a flop at a mere $15 million worldwide box office. It didn't even cover its $8 million budget.

Take a frothy, sexy Brazilian comedy, flatten it, neuter it, remove the laughs and you've got Kiss Me Goodbye a retro adaptation of Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands directed by Robert Mulligan, fondly remembered for To Kill a Mockingbird(1962) and Summer of '42(1971), but who is merely marking time with this film, and wasting ours. Kiss Me Goodbye is actually less sophisticated and amusing than Topper(1937) and less entertaining than The Ghost and Mr Chicken(1966). It's Casper the Friendly Ghost meets Blithe Spirit. As a ghost, James Caan's performance consists of a smirk and a fedora while chemistry-free couple Sally Feild and Jeff Bridges are frantic rather than funny in that tired tradition of having characters talk to a someone only they, and the audience, can see. It's all pretty pointless and completely unfunny. Kiss it goodbye!

All in my family love this movie! It is truly a family favorite. There are enough comments from others that describe the movie, so I will not repeat. It is one of a few movies that all of us (myself, spouse, and daughter) can watch over and over. It is light, entertaining, sweet, and funny! There are so many lines that we quote over and over -- they have become part of our family. ("You are starting to annoy Jolly!" and many others.) We also LOVE the scene when Rupert goes to the lawyer. The reactions of the lawyer and his secretary are hilarious! And the scenes previously mentioned by others: in bed with Rupert when Jolly is there, the trip to the country, the restaurant scene on the trip to the country. The movie is perfectly cast and is my favorite for many of these actors, just for the joy it has brought to all of us.

I absolutely adored this movie! I thought the acting was first rate as was the script. Sally Field is adorable as a widow who's about to remarry. No one but James Caan could have pulled off the role of Jolly as he did. He's entertaining, light-hearted, and gets his point across in a rather different way. This movie is one of my all time favorites. I especially love the way Jolly helps Kay to get hold of her life and move on. Very entertaining! Worth the watch.

Enjoyed in the early 80's, now it just seems silly. I love Sally Field movies but she over-acts in this film. James Caan is good but I see now why he hated this movie.. Jeff Bridges steals the show. Like some old relationships this is one movie best left in the past.

I made it as far as the ridiculous restaurant scene where sickly and annoying Sally Field is kissing all the men and impotent baby man Jeff Bridges just watches her do it. That was fifteen minutes... so I never got to see James Caan who I really like.

Throw in the aggravating and bossy mother routine and you've got an empty vacuous mess. Annoying and cringeworthy on every level.