Paternity

Sometimes HBO will air the most random movies. I just watched "Paternity" again. I saw it back in the day and loved it then and now.

The story of a middle aged successful single bachelor who feels eomthing is missing in his life. He decides he wants a baby, but not a wife or girlfriend...just a baby. He hooks up with Maggie (Diangelo) who is a waitress who also plays the french horn saving for a trip to Paris. He offers her money to be the surrogate (not quite as common then as it is today) and she accepts. During the months that they are together while she's carrying the baby it's obvious to see that they are destined to fall in love, but while it may be predictable it is just very sweet.

Great chemistry between buddy and maggie (reynolds and diangelo).

The bright spots in this movie are Elizabeth Ashley and New York City itself. They both photograph great. Burt is very natural and it is always good to see old pros like Juanita Moore & Norman Fell do their thing. Unfortunately Burt and Beverly have absolutely no chemistry what so ever. Beverly delivers her lines like she is reading them for the first time. Can't say anything about Lauren Huttin who I usually like because I missed the first 20 minutes and thats obviously when she was in it. That about sums up this typical 80's over produced movie. Burt plays a New York city bachelor who wants a kid but not a wife. Beverly plays the lucky gal who will have his baby for cash without any emotional strings attached. Do they fall in love? What do you think?

It's a comedy based on the theme of "torture the star". Burt is the star, so he gets tortured. His character Buddy does strange things throughout the movie, making for an adventure into his life that is anything but predictable. Buddy has a big heart but many small character flaws. These flaws are what leads to the predicament he finds himself in and the progression of the film to it's conclusion is a true classic in romantic comedy. The film is a wonderfully done and although there are some adult scenes,nothing in it is graphic. It is just pure comedy. So open a bottle and enjoy this timeless classic with someone you love. Burt's impeccable timing and style make every scene is a work of art. Sadly Netflix seems to have forgotten to get a copy so you will have to look elsewhere to view it.

I was watching a marathon of National Lampoon vacation flix, and I instantly thought of this movie when I thought of Beverly D'Angelo. She's done many, many memorable movies over the years. Hair, the John Candy flick Summer Rental, and this one are standouts. Suburban Mom roles for Beverly. Odd, but she does it well.

This movie is all about Beverly, and Burt allows it. Which I think is very cool. Because she excels in the role. About as serious as an 80's RomCom can stand to be.

Paternity tells the story of a self centered man who just fall into a rout when he suddenly felt that he has no legacy in him. He decides to get a surrogate AND develops a relationship with a young musician who is in deep need of money for her music education.

I actually did like it until it tried to create a romantic narrative between the leads. There is little to no reason for it AND the separation anxiety being the main gist of the romance is just plain STUPID or her just letting him in after he goes out philandering for the giggles. They did not built it well enough chemistry between them to be honest AND some scenes where just long replay of earlier ones. From reading the trivia about this film, might have been affected by the fact SAG was under strike then lol.

Otherwise, this can also be viewed as a great travelogue into 70s New York. Beautiful shot within the river going through some famous spots in NYC lead by the creepy camp master in Sleepaway Camp.

Very Soft Recommendation.

PS: From reading the surrogacy wikipedia page, this was shockingly possible. Surrogacy during this period was only through artificial insemination or through natural sex. A Surrogacy Contract was only first drafted on 1975 AND IVF would only be publicly available by 1986, which kinda lines things up.