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Modern Romance
Albert Brooks takes an offbeat and occasionally unsettling look at male/female relationships in his 1981 comedy Modern Romance.
Brooks plays Robert, a film editor, who is observed as the story begins meeting with his girlfriend, Mary (Kathryn Harrold) in order to break up with her. Mary accepts the breakup and warns Robert to really leave her alone this time. We're not really sure what this means as Robert assures Mary that their relationship is over.
Needless to say, Robert is anything but over Mary. He is unable to work or think about anything else. He even makes a date with another girl, picks her up, drives her around the block and brings her right back home telling her that he's not ready to date someone new. Robert's persistence in getting Mary back does eventually pay off, but his time away from her has made him even more obsessed with her.
Brooks and screenwriter Monica Johnson have constructed a funny but slightly squirm-worthy story centered around a character whose sympathy factor changes from scene to scene. Robert comes off as sort of an ass in the opening scene when he breaks up with Mary, but we feel sorry for him minutes later when he is glimpsed in his apartment, high on quaaludes, unable to think about anything but Mary, we do feel bad for him. But his almost psychotic obsession with what Mary is doing and whom she is doing it with every minutes of the day becomes almost creepy at times.
The film does contain some absolutely delicious and perfectly human moments that we can all have dealt with and can relate to. I love the scene where he comes home to his apartment to wait for a phone call from Mary and everybody but Mary calls and he can't get them off the phone. When Robert finally does get that phone call that he's been waiting for, the sparkle in his eye is quite endearing and has you on his side again.
Brooks understands this character he has created and makes sure that the viewer stays on his side at all time despite behavior to the contrary. Harrold is a little wooden as Mary. but Brooks treats her like Meryl Streep and I also liked the late Bruno Kirby as Robert's assistant in the editing room. There are cameos by George Kennedy, Meadowlark Lemon, and James L. Brooks, who would, two year later, win twin Oscars for writing and directing Terms of Endearment. Fans of Brooks' offbeat brand of humor will definitely find entertainment value.
Albert Brooks takes an offbeat and occasionally unsettling look at male/female relationships in his 1981 comedy Modern Romance.
Brooks plays Robert, a film editor, who is observed as the story begins meeting with his girlfriend, Mary (Kathryn Harrold) in order to break up with her. Mary accepts the breakup and warns Robert to really leave her alone this time. We're not really sure what this means as Robert assures Mary that their relationship is over.
Needless to say, Robert is anything but over Mary. He is unable to work or think about anything else. He even makes a date with another girl, picks her up, drives her around the block and brings her right back home telling her that he's not ready to date someone new. Robert's persistence in getting Mary back does eventually pay off, but his time away from her has made him even more obsessed with her.
Brooks and screenwriter Monica Johnson have constructed a funny but slightly squirm-worthy story centered around a character whose sympathy factor changes from scene to scene. Robert comes off as sort of an ass in the opening scene when he breaks up with Mary, but we feel sorry for him minutes later when he is glimpsed in his apartment, high on quaaludes, unable to think about anything but Mary, we do feel bad for him. But his almost psychotic obsession with what Mary is doing and whom she is doing it with every minutes of the day becomes almost creepy at times.
The film does contain some absolutely delicious and perfectly human moments that we can all have dealt with and can relate to. I love the scene where he comes home to his apartment to wait for a phone call from Mary and everybody but Mary calls and he can't get them off the phone. When Robert finally does get that phone call that he's been waiting for, the sparkle in his eye is quite endearing and has you on his side again.
Brooks understands this character he has created and makes sure that the viewer stays on his side at all time despite behavior to the contrary. Harrold is a little wooden as Mary. but Brooks treats her like Meryl Streep and I also liked the late Bruno Kirby as Robert's assistant in the editing room. There are cameos by George Kennedy, Meadowlark Lemon, and James L. Brooks, who would, two year later, win twin Oscars for writing and directing Terms of Endearment. Fans of Brooks' offbeat brand of humor will definitely find entertainment value.