Popular reviews

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  Review by matt lynch ★★★½

  So Brooks-ian it's almost impossible to believe it was directed by the guy who made PARALLAX VIEW and ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN. On the other hand I don't think it's served well by mostly sticking to Reynolds' POV (he might also be miscast although I appreciate the swing), and I also don't think Brooks would ever let Bergen's character be so desperately needy today. Clayburgh however is giving an all-timer, a quintessentially self-critical Brooks character overpowered by doubt and motivated by insight. Almost a great movie.

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  Review by Dylan ★★½

  When a marriage ends, it can end in a burning blaze of enraged passion. Sometimes, it can end with this overbearing sensation of resentment. Occasionally, the spark that once lit the chemistry might slowly fade away over time for no apparent reason. But, a marriage can also leave someone in a state of sorrow and fragility, making it difficult to move on. From the opening scenes, it's clear that we're dealing with a relationship that fulfills the fourth of these four phases. Alan J. Pakula uses the framework of love and marriage as the motor of this narrative, making the storytelling lack flow, power, and concentration when compared to previous rom-coms, which makes this simple to ignore. And while Starting…

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  Review by Sam ★ 8

  It’s easy to use the saying “they don’t make ‘em like this anymore” for this movie but I don’t signify that in an obligatorily positive sense. There are certain elements, such as the grainy cinematography or the authentic 70s feel of it, that prove the missed greatness and grand appeal of movies of this genre from the time, but this was just bland. The worst part of this movie is the script, which is incredibly lacking and shallow in every sense of those words. The dialogue feels very contained and restricted, not allowing these characters to have expressive or intriguing emotional states. The whole aspect of the movie revolving around Burt Reynolds' character becoming a teacher and exhibiting Jill Clayburgh’s…

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  Review by pirateneckbeard ★★★½ 2

  It's a curious little movie written by James L. Brooks and directed by Alan J. Pekula probably doing his closest thing to a comedy. Oh don't get me wrong there are some dry humour parts here given out by a really fun cast being utilized but emphasis more on dry and ambiguity of the situations. Burt Reynolds(Phil Potter) plays a waffling former husband stuck in transition that feels somewhat dated in not ready to move on or maybe fully commit which is somewhat valid but I feel that he wasn't the choice for the roll due to the fact that his personification is always a fun confident miscriant that maybe not the smartest always lands on his feet and is…

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  Review by nora ★★★★ 1

  loved this as soon as jill clayburgh's first interaction with burt reynolds was spinning around at him in the street, screaming, "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME, I'VE GOT A KNIFE, I'LL CUT YOUR FUCKING BALLS OFF, SO HELP ME" and sprinting away in her big coat, then discovering a minute later that they were walking to the same dinner party. candice bergen's singing while 2 inches away from burt's face made me want to exit my skin! cringe queen! also the supporting cast in this movie is truly wild, some highlights for me included bunny macdougal, mr. larabee from WHAT'S UP DOC aka mr. "don't you dare strike that brave unbalanced woman" himself, wallace shawn as "man in workshop"…

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  Review by Brian Formo ★★★½ 2

  Burt Reynolds is a great rom-com lead! There are many dry moments with great line deliveries by Reynolds, such as when he asks Jill Clayburgh if she knows of anyone he could go out with because she just requested that they speak again in three months. But their best exchange goes like this:

  BR: Look, I'm talking no romance. Just dinner and drinks. No romance. I just wanna have dinner with somebody. Anybody. A person. I'm not gonna touch you. I might not even talk to you.
  JC: Sounds perfect.

  Starting Over is frequently delightful but it works best as a dry comedy and less as a romantic drama. Alan J. Pakula doesn't lean into the whimsy nearly enough, though…

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  Review by Helen_S ★★★½ 2

  Aww, this was heading to be my favourite, most adorable onscreen couple ever until Burt Reynold's character cocked it up royally! Dear oh dear, at least it turned around tho. Jill Clayburgh was so good in this.

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  Review by seanoconnz ★★★★ 1

  A should be classic. Incredible cast. Great script.

  It’s amazing that in the late 70s you could make a comedy about two middle aged people dating and now every comedy movie needs like 3 explosions.

  Fucked up!

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  Review by jourdain searles

  “I don’t breathe right without you.”

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  Review by 🇵🇱 Steve G 🐝 ★★★

  Disillusionment In Sun-Drenched 1970s American New Wave Cinema: A Watching Brief

  A nervous first step into non-political / paranoia trilogy Alan J. Pakula that threatened to be much better than I expected for the most part.

  It's pretty much the usual course of events for a romantic comedy all the way through but was one of those romcoms that is elevated to greater than the sum of its parts by a fine cast on top form. Certainly, pairing up Burt Reynolds and Jill Clayburgh again was a good idea after they showed great chemistry in the otherwise dull Semi-Tough>, and they display much of the same here.

  It rounds things off with the wonderful pairing of Charles Durning and Frances…

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  Review by Krommedijk ★★★★

  We all know 1979 was the year of the ultimate divorce drama Kramer vs. Kramer, starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep. After all the sexual frivolity of the previous years, the time apparently seemed ripe for films about the consequences of changing sexual morals (which is a changing moral in itself as well). Starting Over is admittedly not of the same caliber as Kramer vs. Kramer but Alan J. Pakula's bittersweet drama similarly strikes the zeitgeist with Burt Reynolds as the epitome of a growing group at the time: the group divorced men in their thirties and forties. When budding feminist Jessica Potter (Candice Bergen) trades him in for a career and a lover, Phil Potter (Burt Reynolds) collapses completely…

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  Review by Filipe Furtado ★★★½ 1

  Pakula is pretty much operating here as matteur en scene for James L. Brooks whose script was his first film work. He is at worst ground when it comes to shifting comic modes but otherwise he does a remarkable assured job and his gifts for directing actors are in strong form with a terrific turn by Clyburgh and even better one by Reynolds (Brooks was happy enough with him he originally wrote the Nicholson part on Terms of Endearment with Reynolds in mind). There's some of Brooks weakness for easy stock scenarios, but also a surprising amount of the ways he can push neurotic behavor from funny to uncomfortable. Brooks populist instincts also do wonders for Pakula worst weakness, his dour self seriouness and I don't think it is an accident that his two best movies (this and Klute) were written by unpretensious "TV people".