Falling in Love Again

If you like romantic, nostalgic films about rediscovered old loves and never-forgotten old friendships, look for this film (which may be a bit of a challenge) and see it again and again.

I recall that some reviews on FILA were unflattering at time of release, but I've learned that too many films that we now consider terrifically entertaining and fulfilling over the years were never graced with approval at time of release by some reviewers - while conversely, some real celluloid stinkers have enjoyed critical support. The reasons for this were never clear to me as a paying film-goer.

I recommend this heartily to all. (And remember to remain through the credits for the unforgettable closing song, a lost classic from Johnny Mathis, Carol Connors and Michel LeGrand.)

An architect misses his childhood years. So he packs up his family -his wife and children- and heads where he grew up: Bronx, NYC. His memories from the old times begins to revive. There goes the story line: His buddies, his folks, his first love... Old times are introduced very nostalgically. Through those times there are both funny and meaningful moments of cinematography.

His first love, who is currently his wife, has characteristically altered into someone else according to him, as time went by. He recalls all the sweet memories of sharing love with her wife; so he tries to figure out what led to that unforeseen change of his wife's attitudes, what wounds she might have accumulated in her soul. He tries to discover what made one of them abandon their used-to-be forever love. This discovery will rekindle his old feelings for her, and thus it will also make her love him back again for their old times' sake.

For every loving couple, whose love is expired through time must have experienced these searchings for a cure of lost-love crisis in their relationship. If not yet, now is the time.

Let me count the ways Bad acting. Bad sound. Bad Music. A few songs are OK. Miscasted actors. 30 yr olds playing teens. Bad Accents. Michelle P's is the worst. Bad Costumes. The whole movie had a surreal feel. Not in a good way either. Eliott G only has little face time. Yet Narrates through-out. The "older woman/kisser" is way hotter than Michelle P.

I count nine, so far. The list is almost endless.

This movie goes on my all-time-stinker list.

Only watch it for the insane novelty of it.

It's like those bowery boy movies from the 1940's only not funny.

Yuck....................................What a stinker.

Michelle Pfeiffer looks absolutely gorgeous in one of her first movie features, and her being in it is probably what is best known about it, since the box cover of the movie has her face all over it even though she plays a supporting character.

The main character of the film is Harry Lewis (Elliott Gould), a failed architect who is haunted by his own past, so decides to take his kids and wife Sue (Susannah York) on a road trip to the Bronx so that he can re-visit his youth.

The story about the road trip is mixed with scenes from Harry's past, in 1940s New York, where he dreams big and meets and courts Sue.

The problem with having these stories running parallel is that even though the flashbacks are of a rom-commy nature, since we already know that Sue is Harry's wife in the present, there is not really too much excitement. The actors playing in the flashbacks are horrendously bad, including Pfeiffer and her ridiculous British accent, and while the actors in the present day are good, they don't get a lot of time on screen.

On top of that, processions are slow and the film is a real sleeper, so I would recommend people to stay away from it if you're not obsessed with Pfeiffers early movie work.

My original review was written in August 1980 after a screening in Midtown Manhattan: Though spiraling production and promotion budgets currently conspire against the "small picture", Steven Paul's "Falling in Love Again", demonstrates that unpretentious filmmaking is far from dead. Largely a family project for the Paul clan, this modestly-budgeted romance could find an audience as a people-intensive film, with warm easy to identify-with characters rather than currently fashionable shock values.

Elliott Gould, in perhaps his best, most comfortable performance in several years, is perfectly cast as Harry Lewis, a New Yorker entering middle age, suffering the usual crisis and recalling the good old days of his youth. On a cross-country trip by car with his family, en route to a high school reunion in the Bronx, Gould narrates flashbacks of his romance with Susannah York (played by Michelle Pfeiffer as teenager) in the '40s.

Lewis (played by Stuart Paul as a youth) went after and married the beautiful "unattainable" rich girl. His hopes of career success did not materialize, with duo currently owning a clothing business which York runs while Gould dreams of becoming an architect.

Crosscut with present day footage, the '40s scenes feature fine ensemble comedy of Stuart Paul and friends' antics, as well as their serious attempt to mount a local scrap drive to support the war. Nostalgic approach includes a well-directed seduction sequence as Paul succumbs to the wiles of a beautiful young (but older than he) housewife played by the stunning Cathy Tolbert. Jewish milieu is well delineated, with a brassy Kaye Ballard very funny as Paul's mom.

After inevitable conflicts erupt during the trip, Gould is disillusioned upon arrival in New York, with the deterioration of his old neighborhood. Film climaxes with an incisive, beautifully-played scene in a restaurant where Gould is shooting his mouth off with his old buddies. York slips in unnoticed to silently observe and in a very well-judged switch, Gould suddenly turns serious and pours out his true feelings about York and his goals in life. With York an almost ghost-like presence here, both thesps shine.

Young actor-turned-director Steve n Paul shot "Falling in Love" last year at age twenty, but his feel for a past era and emphasis upon old-fashioned (but still effective picture values bely his youthful status. Pic artfully captures the '40s look and feel with color stock footage an effective budget-stretcher for shots of old New York beyond the neighborhood. Michel Legrand's score works well in whipping up sentiment, though he lapses into a corny pastiche of Bill Conti's "Rocky" theme during an action sequence.

Gould and York, reteamed after their "The Silent Partner" stint, have been allowed by the young helmer to actively collaborate in the filming, with York receiving a co-scripting credit. Film benefits from their personal involvement, with Gould a very sympathetic central figure and York selflessly alternating supportive scenes with confrontational outbursts, all designed to help the film rather than steal the spotlight. Interesting structure has some flashback material late in the pic presented from her point-of-view, departing from the "Gould's story" premise.

Michelle Pfeiffer makes a strong impression as York's younger self, with a dreamy look in her eyes which is quite distinctive. Stuart Paul is convincing as Gould's young ego and the director acquits himself well as a negative influence in the old neighborhood.