(1984)2.5Nathan SouthernThis wistful ensemble piece by the gifted writer-director Armyan Bernstein (who co-scripted Coppola's 1982 One From the Heart and later directed the enjoyable Cross My Heart) suffers from a surfeit of unfulfilled intentions and from ham-handed execution in one of its primary arenas. On its surface, the picture borrows from unimpeachable sources - the myriad of Hollywood and world comedy-dramas that feature a band of colorful friends enduring the vicissitudes of bittersweet midlife crises. (Big Chill or Secaucus Seven, anyone?) In this case, we are asked to share in the touching lives and experiences of aspiring Chicagoan writer Danny's (John Shea) clique of seven or eight lifelong buddies. Unfortunately, the picture fails as an ensemble dramedy. The majority of Danny's "friends" come across as miserable losers and dullards, and though Petrie and Bernstein never convey adequate background information or much colorful life-detail about any of them, the glimpses that we do catch hardly beckon us to learn more. Bernstein probably based these dippy characters on individuals from his own life - all the more reason to fictionalize. (Can we honestly be expected to root for a stockbroker who ignorantly risks his entire future on one morning of returns, or a pathetic louse who buys a one-night prostitute for an exorbitant sum and mistakes her bought affections for love?) In the film's third act, it becomes overly apparent that Bernstein and Petrie have written themselves into a corner with most of their subplots, for the resolutions of the substories involving Danny's friends are uniformly ridiculous and implausible - in each case, an achingly painful stretch toward audience-pleasing affability, simply to retain the film's venerable overtone and prevent it from veering off into heart-rending tragedy.
Whenever Bernstein delves into those substories, the film suffers - almost irreparably so. Fortunately, the director/co-writer also works into the film several memorable and triumphant elements, as rapturous as the aforementioned are irritating. All of the film's successes are related to its three most prominent characters: Danny, Danny's on-again, off-again love interest, Emily Reubens (Kate Capshaw) and his obese, terminally ill friend Sol (Josh Mostel, who steals the film). When Bernstein explores these relationships - such as the touching bond between the dying Sol and Danny, with the men painted as borderline soulmates, and Danny's charming romance with Emily - the film sings with grace and wholly envelops our attention. In her uneven career, Capshaw has never been as luminous or as delightful as she is here; she and Shea exhibit astonishing tender-hearted chemistry that verges on the magical. These elements make the film worth seeing - and doubly frustrating each time Bernstein drifts away from his most treasured subplots. Here is a clear case of a film that overreaches its grasp. Had the director axed most of his supporting characters and honed in on a chamber dramedy about Sol, Danny and Emily, he almost certainly would have produced a minor classic.
This Chicago-set drama is the directorial debut of screenwriter Armyan Bernstein and centers on a group of long-time friends who gather together to reflect upon how their different lives have taken unexpected turns.
