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Neil Simon Movies

As the most financially successful playwright in history, Bronx-born Neil Simon hardly needs TV and movies to enhance his reputation -- though at least one-third of his output has been geared exclusively to non-theatrical projects. Upon graduating from New York University, Simon began penning comedy material for nightclubs and revues, then signed on as a staff writer for TV comedian Sid Caesar. During his years with Caesar, and his later tenure on Phil Silvers' military sitcom "You'll Never Get Rich" (1955-59), Simon became skilled in the art of allowing jokes to flow naturally from the situation and the characters, rather than merely inserting gags arbitrarily for quick, cheap laughs. After an ignoble Broadway debut as librettist for the shortlived musical The Adventures of Marco Polo (1959), Simon scored a hit with his play Come Blow Your Horn (1961), which later became a successful Frank Sinatra film vehicle. Simon's first script written directly for the screen was After the Fox (1966), an uneven "international" comedy suffering from too many cooks (including star Peter Sellers and director Vittorio de Sica). Simon's next movie original, The Out of Towners (1969), was far more successful both financially and artistically. While his stage plays of the 1970s and 1980s were almost invaribly hits, Simon's film scripts of the same period fluctuated wildly in quality. There are few if any faults in The Heartbreak Kid (1972), The Goodbye Girl (1977), and Seems Like Old Times (1979). Conversely, Simon's movie-genre spoofs Murder by Death (1975) and The Cheap Detective (1978), while frequently uproarious, are little more than elonganted Sid Caesar sketches. And The Slugger's Wife (1983) is not only Simon's weakest screenplay, but also one of the worst big-budget pictures ever made. However, in the final analysis, Simon has hit the mark far more often than not -- in addition to his Pulitzer Prize for the 1991 play Lost in Yonkers, his scripts for The Odd Couple (1968), The Goodbye Girl (1977), and California Suite (1978) have been honored with Academy Awards. As he entered the 1990s, Simon suffered one major cinematic setback with 1991's The Marrying Man, then -- as always -- regained lost ground with still another Broadway smash, 1993's Laughter on the 23rd Floor. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
2007  
R  
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When 40-year-old San Francisco bachelor Eddie Cantrow (Ben Stiller) attends the wedding of his ex-fiancée -- and is seated at a "singles table" full of children -- he realizes maybe he's been too picky in his love life, and it's time to settle down. Fortunately, he doesn't have to compromise his standards when he meets Lila (Malin Akerman), a funny, attractive blond who does environmental research for a living. Lila's company wants to relocate her to Europe, but only because she's single -- they don't force married couples to uproot themselves. So Eddie hastily proposes to her, even though they've only been dating for six weeks. But the moment they exchange vows, Eddie starts to notice Lila's rough edges and annoying habits, which had remained hidden underneath her perfect exterior. Their Cabo San Lucas honeymoon gets off to a rough start full of tuneless pop singalongs and surprising revelations about Lila's job and her past. Things only get worse for a confused Eddie when he meets Miranda (Michelle Monaghan), a Midwesterner in Cabo for a family reunion -- and starts to wish he'd held out just a little bit longer. The Heartbreak Kid is Peter and Bobby Farrelly's remake of the 1972 Elaine May comedy of the same name, starring Charles Grodin. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

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Starring:
Ben StillerMichelle Monaghan, (more)
 
2004  
PG  
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The TNT cable network aired this made-for-TV version of Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl in January 2004. Jeff Daniels stars as Elliot Garfield, an actor who subleases an apartment in New York City. Unfortunately, the apartment is already occupied by dancer Paula McFadden (Patricia Heaton) and her daughter, Lucy (Hallie Kate Eisenberg). Apparently, Paula's boyfriend decided to secretly sublease his part of the apartment before he left her. Paula and Elliot agree to share the apartment, even though they get on each other's nerves. While she desperately searches for a job and he struggles through a difficult production of Richard III, they end up falling in love. Eventually their love is tested when Elliot gets a job offer in Seattle. Contemporary pop artists Hootie & the Blowfish contribute to the soundtrack. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

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Starring:
Jeff DanielsPatricia Heaton, (more)
 
2001  
 
Just before he is to receive a lifetime achievement award, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) receives a congratulatory gift from his mentor, Prof. Tewksbury (René Auberjonois) along with an unsettling written note. Disturbed by the sentiments in the notes, Frasier is plunged into an intense, near-existentialist flurry of self-analysis, highlighted (or lowlighted!) by flashbacks from the past. Meanwhile, Martin (John Mahoney) tries to mollify Niles (David Hyde Pierce) who is envious of the attention being showered upon Frasier. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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2001  
R  
Playwright Neil Simon got his first big break in the early '50s as a staff writer on Sid Caesar's fabled television series Your Show of Shows, and this comedy (adapted by Simon from his play) takes a fictionalized look at the backstage chaos that went into producing one of the landmarks of television's golden age. Max Prince (Nathan Lane) is the star of The Max Prince Show, a popular comedy-variety series with ratings that have begun to slip; Prince's show is still a major hit on the East Coast, but network executive Cal Weebs (Colin Fox) insists that it's too sophisticated for the Midwest, and urges Prince to dumb down his act. Prince has also become the whipping boy of newspaper columnist Walter Winchell (Frank Proctor), and between the tensions of producing a hour of top-quality comedy each week and being pestered about his ratings, Prince is beginning to unravel. His relationship with his wife Faye (Sherry Miller) and their children is falling apart, and stress is eating him alive. Prince's brother Harry (Richard Portnow) is Max's assistant, and his last line of defense against both the network and his writing staff, which spend its days coming up with business for the show while hurling humorous invective at each other and anyone else within earshot. (The actors playing Max's writers include Mark Linn-Baker, Victor Garber, Dan Castellaneta, Saul Rubinek, Peri Gilpin, and Zach Grenier.) Laughter on the 23rd Floor received its world premiere at the 2001 Palm Springs Film Festival and was scheduled for showings several months later on the Showtime premium cable network (who co-produced the feature). The film was directed by Richard Benjamin, who previously teamed with Mark Linn-Baker for another comedy inspired by the career of Sid Caesar, My Favorite Year. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Nathan LaneMark Linn-Baker, (more)
 
1999  
PG13  
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When Frank Sinatra sang "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere, it's up to you, New York!" he probably didn't have the same odds in mind that line up against Henry and Nancy Clark in The Out-Of-Towners. Henry (Steve Martin) is an advertising man from Ohio who runs his life on an exacting schedule. His wife Nancy (Goldie Hawn) feels the spark has gone out of their lives together. After 24 years of marriage, their children are grown and nothing is tying them to their old home, so they decide to take a stab at relocating to New York City. Henry arranges a job interview in the Big Apple, they schedule a flight into Manhattan, and from that point on, anything that can go wrong does go wrong. Henry and Nancy's flight is delayed, their luggage is lost, their hotel reservations are cancelled, they're accosted by muggers, the cab they're riding in gets in a wreck, Henry is accidentally drugged and Nancy ends up in a group therapy meeting for sex addicts. The Out-Of-Towners is an updated remake of the 1970 comedy scripted by Neil Simon; the original version starred Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis as the hapless Midwesterners. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Steve MartinGoldie Hawn, (more)
 
1998  
PG13  
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Howard Deutch directed this sequel to the The Odd Couple (1968), originally adapted from the 1965 Broadway comedy by Neil Simon. Thirty years later, Felix Ungar (Jack Lemmon) and retired sportswriter Oscar Madison (Walter Matthau) meet at LAX and drive a rental car across the desert to attend the wedding of Oscar's son Brucey (Jonathan Silverman) to Felix's daughter Hannah (Lisa Waltz), but a breakdown leaves them stranded at some distance from the main highways where they are sprayed by a cropduster and hang out with two flirtatious women (Christine Baranski, Jean Smart) in a small-town bar before getting a lift from slow-driving elderly Beaumont (Barnard Hughes), and eventually arriving at the wedding. Composer Alan Silvestri brings in Neal Hefti's original theme from the 1968 film, music also featured in ABC's 1970-75 TV series with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. Another Odd Couple sequel is the TV movie The Odd Couple: Together Again (CBS, 1993, repeated July 1997), starring Randall and Klugman; it also involved the wedding of Felix's daughter. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

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Starring:
Jack LemmonWalter Matthau, (more)
 
1997  
NR  
Neil Simon adapted this 1997 comedy from his 1972 play, first filmed in 1975 with Walter Matthau and George Burns as two feuding veteran vaudevillians reuniting to do a television special. For this new version, Simon updated the period and characters into a tale of two comedians (Woody Allen, Peter Falk), once popular in the 1950s. Their successful comedy team split up, but now Warner Brothers wants to bring them back together for cameos in a movie that's "funnier than Home Alone" -- so with salaries of $75,000 each, how can they refuse? Filmed in New York, this movie premiered December 28, 1997 on Hallmark Hall of Fame (CBS). ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

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Starring:
Woody AllenPeter Falk, (more)
 
1997  
 
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In this Canadian documentary, two young filmmakers attend the Toronto Film Festival and pitch a film concept to various celebrities. Their film idea, titled The Dawn, concerns a Mafia don who goes for a hernia operation but gets a sex change instead. During the 1996 Toronto fest, they approach Roger Ebert, Norman Jewison (at a packed press conference), Eric Stoltz (leaving a limo), Al Pacino, and others without much success. On a roll, they leave Toronto for Hollywood, getting advice from Arthur Hiller and Neil Simon and finding an agent who expresses interest. Shown at the 1997 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

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1996  
 
Jack Lemmon has mastered both stage and screen in his career with such hits as "The Odd Couple," "The Days of Wine and Roses," "The China Syndrome," "Save the Tiger" (for which he received an Oscar) and "Grumpy Old Men." He and Walter Matthau starred in numerous films together that were nearly always a hit. Lemmon has displayed a wide range of acting talents. He knows just how to make a character appear funny, sympathetic or absolutely driven. His ability to act in both solid dramas and lighthearted comedies has always served him well. Few can watch "The Days of Wine and Roses" without shedding a tear or laughing almost uncontrollably at his performances in both "The Odd Couple" or the original "The Out of Towners." Lemmon himself hosts this biography that includes interviews with many of his costars and colleagues such as playwright Neil Simon. ~ Elizabeth Smith, Rovi

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Starring:
Jack LemmonChris Lemmon, (more)
 
1996  
 
Crafted in the mold of his classic play-cum-films Plaza Suite and California Suite, the legendary Neil Simon authors London Suite, a made-for-television movie that took its first bows in September 1996. As in the prior films, Simon presents a series of couplets that unfold in and around a single hotel, this one in the city of Big Ben and Westminster. Of the four sketches, the first stars Julie Hagerty (Lost in America) and Michael Richards (Seinfeld) as husband-and-wife Mark and Anne Ferris, who journey to Wimbledon for the matches, only to suffer gravely when they lose their tickets and Mark injures his back; matters go from difficult to unbearable when Mark takes a trip through comic hell at the hands of a sadistic chiropractor. Episode two features Seinfeld's Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Weekend at Bernie's star Jonathan Silverman as Debra and Paul Dolby, honeymooners who lose track of their suitcases and then each other. In episode three, Frasier's Kelsey Grammer and Far From Heaven's Patricia Clarkson portray divorcees Sidney and Diana Nichols, who meet up in London town, where Diana hopes to promote her new television program and Sidney schemes to wheedle money out of his ex, to pass it along to his gay lover, Max. In the final segment, the late Madeline Kahn (Blazing Saddles) plays Sharon Semple, an American on a London shopping spree with her daughter, who meets and falls in love with Dennis Cummings, "The Snorting Scotsman," (Empty Nest's Richard Mulligan), only to contend with his penchant for Ferraris and his obnoxious laugh. London Suite is helmed by Jay Sandrich, veteran director of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, and Laverne and Shirley. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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Starring:
Kelsey GrammerRichard Michaels, (more)
 
1996  
 
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Assembled by the same team responsible for "The Hallmark Hall of Fame", this TV adaptation of Neil Simon's hit play Jake's Woman stars Alan Alda, recreating his Broadway role as Simon-esque writer Jake. Mired in an unhappy marriage with current spouse Maggie (Anne Archer), Jake tries to cope with his wife's insistence on a trial separation by conjuring up images of the other women in his life: his late wife Julie (Mira Sorvino), his confused daughter Molly (Kimberly Williams), his neurotic sister Karen (Julie Kavner) and his analyst Edith (Joyce Van Patten). Putting his literary skills to good use, Jake carries on imaginary conversations with these ladies, hoping that they will help him sort out his problems. The trouble begins when the spectres of Jake's Women begin showing up without his bidding, insisting upon debating and arguing with the poor fellow even as he tries to pursue a new romance with his current flame Sheila (Lolita Davidovich). Neil Simon's Jake's Women (the official title) first aired March 3, 1996 on CBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Alan AldaAnne Archer, (more)
 
1993  
PG  
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An adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning, semi-autobiographical stage play by popular dramatist Neil Simon, this comedy-drama focuses on the difficulties faced by two young brothers forced to live with a group of eccentric relatives. Arty (Mike Damus) and Jay (Brad Stoll) are young teenagers when their their widower father heads South to seek work, leaving the boys with their stern, intimidating grandmother (Irene Worth). Also part of the household is the more likable Aunt Bella (Mercedes Ruehl), an odd duck with a scattered personality and childlike enthusiasm that make her seem more like a fellow kid than an adult. Bella is kept under close watch by Grandma, who reacts strongly when she attempts to show her independence, leaving Arty and Jay as witnesses to a conflict that could tear the family apart. Lost in Yonkers offers much of Simon's trademark humor with a more bittersweet feel than in most of the playwright's other work, thanks in large part to the performance by Ruehl, who reprises her Tony Award-winning role as the troubled but cheerful Bella. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

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Starring:
Richard DreyfussMercedes Ruehl, (more)
 
1992  
 
The 1986 stage hit Broadway Bound is the third entry in playwright Neil Simon's "autobiography trilogy". Unlike the cinemadaptations of Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues, Broadway Bound was filmed for television, where it debuted March 23, 1992. Brighton Beach Memoirs star Jonathan Silverman returns as Neil Simon's alter ego Eugene Jerome, while Corey Parker plays Eugene's brother Stanley (based on Simon's brother and early writing partner Mel). The year is 1948: Eugene and Stanley have begun writing comedy sketches for the Catskills resorts, hoping that this activity will be the first step on the road to fame and fortune. As they seek out funny material, the boys' home life is rapidly disintegrating. The crises at hand include their parents' constant quarrelling (brought about by their father's philandering) and a seemingly insurmountable dilemma involving their aged uncle. Just as WASPish Blythe Danner scored as Eugene's Jewish mother in Brighton Beach Memoirs, so too do non-Jewish actor Anne Bancroft and Hume Cronyn effectively essay Hebraic characterizations in Broadway Bound. Following its American television premiere, the film was released theatrically in Europe. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Corey ParkerJonathan Silverman, (more)
 
1991  
R  
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Neil Simon forgoes his typical urban East Coast kvetchers and replaces them with sunny Californian kvetchers in The Marrying Man, a film which became a beacon of gossip in 1991 due to the alleged shenanigans of stars Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, who fell in love during production. Simon based his script on a true story concerning the love affair between shoe tycoon Harry Karl and actress Marie (The Body) McDonald during the 1950s. Married to each other four times, McDonald still managed to carry on an affair with mobster Bugsy Siegel. In this Simon-ized version, Baldwin plays Charley Pearl, a sharp and handsome Hollywood millionaire, engaged to Adele Horner (Elisabeth Shue), the daughter of dyspeptic movie studio executive Lew Horner (Robert Loggia). The day before their wedding, Charley heads off to Las Vegas for a bachelor party, and in a sleazy casino on the outskirts of town, he sets his eyes on sexy singer Vicki Anderson (Basinger) and falls for her hard. He wants her immediately and even though she warns him she's the property of Bugsy Siegel (Armand Assante), he crawls into her bedroom window to be with her. Caught with his pants down by Siegel, Bugsy, instead of killing him, forces him to marry Vicki ("I was about to dump her anyway," he says). But after their marriage, Charley and Vicki discover they're more attracted to the danger of their relationship than in each other. Charley's friends -- Phil (Paul Reiser), Sammy (Fisher Stevens), Tony (Peter Dobson), and George (Steve Hytner) -- form a Greek chorus commenting on the crazed love affair and are reportedly inspired by Phil Silvers, Sammy Cahn, Tony Martin, and Leo Durocher. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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Starring:
Kim BasingerAlec Baldwin, (more)
 
1988  
 
Hosted by the American Film Institute, this video is a tribute to to career of Jack Lemmon. Included are excerpts from: The Odd Couple, The Fortune Cookie and The Apartment. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi

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1988  
PG13  
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Biloxi Blues was the second of playwright Neil Simon's semi-autobiographical trilogy (number one was Brighton Beach Memoirs; number three, Broadway Bound). Matthew Broderick stars as Simon's alter ego Eugene Morris Jerome, who is drafted and shipped off to boot camp in Biloxi, Mississippi in the waning days of World War II. Eugene is at the mercy of near-psychotic drill sergeant Toomey (Christopher Walken), who seems to have a personal vendetta against the poor schlemiel (Toomey also has all the film's best lines). While sweating out basic training, Eugene is indoctrinated into manhood by local prostitute Rowena (Park Overall). The film version of Biloxi Blues retains the wit and poignancy of the theatrical original--except towards the end, which pointlessly emphasizes a showdown between Eugene and Toomey. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Matthew BroderickChristopher Walken, (more)
 
1986  
PG13  
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Brighton Beach Memoirs is the first of playwright Neil Simon's unofficial "autobiographical trilogy" (it was followed by Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound). Jonathan Silverman repeats his stage role as Simon's teenaged alter-ego Eugene, who lives in 1937 Brooklyn with his parents (Blythe Danner and Bob Dishy), older brother Stanley (Brian Drillinger), aunt (Judith Ivey) and female cousins (Stacey Glick and Lisa Waltz). Much is made of Eugene's burgeoning sexual self-awareness and his father's efforts to support his huge extended family on his meager salary. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Blythe DannerBob Dishy, (more)
 
1985  
PG13  
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This routine film should have been called the "rock singer's husband" because it is about the life of a baseball player affected by his love for a singer. Darryl Palmer (Michael O'Keefe) plays for the Atlanta Braves, and when he walks into a nightclub and sees an attractive woman singing (Rebecca DeMornay), he pulls up to home plate and is anxious to meet her. From then on, his persistence in courting her is unstoppable in spite of several unhappy setbacks, and finally their romance makes it to first base when she realizes she loves him too, and they are married. From that point onward, his career starts to soar, while her career begins to slide in the opposite direction. In fact, she has given up her job to go live with him on his home turf, and the sacrifice, in the end, proves to be too much. A separation is inevitable, and while he still has his teammates (Randy Quaid, Cleavant Derricks), he would rather have his wife back. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

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Starring:
Michael O'KeefeRebecca De Mornay, (more)
 
1984  
R  
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In a comedy as flat as the cardboard cut-outs of movie stars that appear in one scene, Steve Martin plays Larry Hubbard, a wild and lonely guy who has been dumped by his girlfriend. Since misery loves company, he takes up with Warren, a fellow Lonely Guy (Charles Grodin), and eventually both Warren and Larry find some surprising companions, especially after Larry writes a best-selling Lonely Guy Guide. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

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Starring:
Steve MartinCharles Grodin, (more)
 
1983  
PG  
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Max Dugan (Jason Robards Jr.) is an elderly ne'er-do-well whose tenuous mob connections have made him persona non grata with his daughter Marsha Mason. Struggling to raise her restless son Matthew Broderick on her own, Mason is none too pleased when Max returns to the family fold with yet another portfolio of get-rich-quick schemes. Forced to leave town due to the investigative habits of cop Donald Sutherland, Mason's new boyfriend, Max does one last good deed to renew the faith of the disillusioned-with-life Broderick. Watch for Donald Sutherland's son Kiefer in his film debut, and for former Kansas City Royals' batting coach Charlie Lau in the baseball-game finale. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Marsha MasonJason Robards, Jr., (more)
 
1982  
PG  
Neil Simon based his screenplay for I Ought to Be in Pictures on one of his more serious theatrical pieces. Walter Matthau is top-billed as Herbert Tucker, a struggling screenwriter who suddenly finds his 19-year-old daughter, Libby(Dinah Manoff), on his Hollywood doorstep. Having deserted his family years earlier, Herbert isn't keen on having his daughter around to cramp his lifestyle, which at this point consists of drinking his meals and telling lies to his faithful girlfriend, Stephanie (Ann-Margret). Libby takes it upon herself to put Herbert's life in order. There are plenty of angry outbursts and recriminations between father and daughter before the tearful, upbeat conclusion. Incidentally, Dinah Manoff is the daughter of actress Lee Grant, who'd previously co-starred with Walter Matthau in Neil Simon's Plaza Suite -- which, like I Ought to be in Pictures, was directed by Herbert Ross. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Walter MatthauAnn-Margret, (more)
 
1981  
R  
Playwright Neil Simon made one of his periodic forays into serious themes with the drama The Gingerbread Lady, and while this screen adaptation adds a bit more wit to the proceedings, it remains a change of pace from his usual breezy comedies. Georgia (Marsha Mason) is a successful actress who has just spent 90 days in a rehab clinic in an effort to beat her addiction to alcohol. A number of crises are waiting for Georgia upon her return; her teenage daughter Polly (Kristy McNichol), whom she neglected as a child, wants to move back in, though they still have a ways to go in repairing their relationship. And her ex-husband David (David Dukes), a writer, has just penned a new drama that he wants her to star in -- a fictionalized version of their often-combative marriage. Georgia also has to tend to her best friends, bitter socialite Toby (Joan Hackett) and Jimmy (James Coco), a gay actor who drowns his sorrows in food. Only When I Laugh garnered Oscar nominations for Mason, Coco, and Hackett, while the latter won a Golden Globe for her performance. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Marsha MasonKristy McNichol, (more)
 
1980  
PG  
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For the first (and thus far the only) time in his career, Chevy Chase plays a genuinely sympathetic character in Neil Simon's Seems Like Old Times. This time around, Chase is a divorced novelist who is abducted by crooks and set up as the fall guy in a bank robbery. Arrested, Chase manages to escape and to make his way to the home of ex-wife Goldie Hawn, now a highly respected liberal defense attorney. Chase's unexpected arrival coincides with an important dinner party on behalf of Goldie's current husband, district attorney Charles Grodin. At first making every effort to give Chase the boot, Hawn, ever the champion of the underdog finally decides to help him out of his dilemma--much to the discomfort of her politically ambitious husband. Wisely, Grodin does not play his character as an unpleasant stuffed shirt; he is as likeable as Chase and Hawn, giving the farcical plot convolutions a tinge of reality. We care about the people involved, thus the laughs spring as much from characterization as they do from the situation. If only Seems Like Old Times didn't have that lame-brained final close up..... ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Starring:
Goldie HawnChevy Chase, (more)
 
1979  
PG  
Neil Simon's bright, autobiographical romantic comedy, a big Broadway success, has been adapted to the screen in a screenplay by Simon, directed by Robert Moore, that subtly shifts the emphasis from the play. In the stage version, recently widowed writer George Schneider (James Caan) and his efforts to form a new relationship after years of marriage, was the crux of the story. The film, however, reduces George's role and, instead, emphasizes the character of Jennie MacLaine (Marsha Mason), the actress being wooed by George. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

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Starring:
James CaanMarsha Mason, (more)
 
1978  
PG  
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Playwright Neil Simon turned to the hotel setting he used so successfully in his stage-play (later a movie) Plaza Suite to explore four more human dramas in his play California Suite, which was adapted into this quite successful movie. In the first episode, the divorced couple of Bill and Hannah Warren (Alan Alda and Jane Fonda) have rented a suite in a posh Beverly Hills hotel in order to have a discussion about who will get the custody of their child. In the next episode, Sidney Cochran and Diana Barrie (Michael Caine and Maggie Smith) are a hilarious pair of Hollywood stars who have rented the suite to await their appearance at the Academy Awards: it is a "date of convenience" which enables the sexually adventurous duo to conduct their other, more unconventional alliances out of the public eye. Drs. Willis Panama and Chauncy Gump (Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor) have brought their families to Beverly Hills for a vacation which takes on nightmarish tone. Finally, Marvin Michaels (Walter Matthau) tries frantically and unsuccessfully to explain the situation to his wife (Elaine May) when she catches him in flagrante delicto with a hooker. Actress Maggie Smith won an Academy Award as "Best Supporting Actress" for her role in this film, in which she plays the actress waiting to win . . . an Academy Award. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

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Starring:
Alan AldaMichael Caine, (more)