User reviews

This is a nice movie, that depicts a man's difficult time coping with a divorce from a woman he still cares about and falling in love with another woman at the same time. Most critics have said this is Burt Reynolds finest performance. It has some very touching moments that we could all relate to, and there are some very funny moments as well.

Jill Clayburgh is perfect as a normal, not so young, woman that you could run across anywhere. If this movie was made today, they would have cast a gorgeous 18 year old, with big lips that couldn't act.

Candice Bergen, who is gorgeous, steals the show, with a hilarious scene involving her singing. The movie has aged some, and as a previous writer said, "would never be made today." But for me, that statement is complimentary to this movie.

Although puzzlingly slow-moving, "Starting Over" is a gentle, funny film about a newly-divorced man attempting to date again. I loved it when Burt Reynolds (in a benign but amiable performance) hits the furniture store to fill up his apartment, but then sits in his studio surrounded by all the new pieces and now has nothing to do. Or when girlfriend Jill Clayburgh shouts at him, "I am no one-nighter! I am a teacher! I am going for my Masters!" The movie doesn't know what to do with its characters near the end--taking us down a few roads which disappointed me--but otherwise it's a smart, subtle comedy and the appealing players make the most of it. **1/2 out of ****

I loved Burt Reynolds when I was wee. And performances like this, for me, are what he was best at. Here's the scoop: he is normal, we are normal, but the world is a bit crazy, and us normal guys have got to navigate it and find true, terrific, wonderful love.

This is a romantic comedy, a genre which seldom produces a great film, and indeed this is not a great film. That said, it is an above - average, very enjoyable film of it's type, which is genuinely LOL funny in places, and has not dated at all. And, it has a nice Christmas-time thing going on, which may or not be relevant to your interest. Slightly wonky (New York / Bostony) music is fitting, and I would defo give Bergen a cuddle with that see-through blouse thing on.

When the end credits come up, with another cheesy song, you might feel that you know a wee bit more about humanity, and more again about what love really is, and isn't.

Exceptionally funny and moving romantic comedy from Alan J. Pakula (Klute, All the President's Men) is a lost late '70's classic! Burt plays Phil Potter, a married every-man who's dumped by his self-consumed wife (Candice Bergen) only to stumble into love with an insecure school teacher (Jill Clayburgh).

Basically it sounds like An Unmarried Woman for men but Starting Over is its own film made with a gentle touch courtesy of Pakula and writer James L. Brooks and features some outstanding performances: Burt Reynolds -displaying vast amounts of charm and sex appeal- can be so beautifully restrained and sensitive (Deliverance, Boogie Nights) but then quickly turn and flash that devil's grin and deliver a line with a comic timing that's pure genius. He's amazing here and Phil is his best creation. Candice Bergen was sensational in Carnal Knowledge but her shallow Jessica is invested with a played-to-the-hilt quality and she shows a hilarious narcissiscm that wouldn't be seen again until Murphy Brown. (See if you can get her delightfully out-of-tune vocal rendition of Better than Evah out of your head after you've watched this!) Jill Clayburgh never found another part like Erica in An Unmarried Woman but then again she really didn't need to and her Marilyn is a slightly high-strung but charmingly shy wallflower and she plays off Reynolds perfectly; the two of them carry Starting Over to its finish with great style.

Starting Over is one of those movies that people vaguely remember and you almost never come across while channel surfing. (It's not even available on DVD and most video stores don't even have a copy of the VHS tape!) It's a shame it's not more available because it has an honest, acutely observational intelligence going for it and feels like a romantic comedy made for people who don't like romantic comedies. It's a great movie!

Deceptively light, self-critical comedy about divorcees in their 40s, so pretty much a relic. Jim Brooks' voice all over this.

A freshly divorced man tries to maneuver the singles field. It gets off to a great start but half-way through the script runs out of steam, which is somewhat surprising given the track record Brooks has as a comedy writer in TV and film. Shedding his usual macho screen persona for an understated performance as a decent fellow, Reynolds has never been more appealing. Clayburgh is also good as an insecure woman he becomes involved with. However, it is Bergen who steals the film as a songwriter who can't carry a tune but fancies herself a great singer. Pakula rarely did comedies, but he manages to push the right buttons in eliciting laughs.

This is the story of Phil (Burt Reynolds), who finds out his wife (Jessica played by Candace Bergen) in her narcissistic need for independence and a singing career has been having an affair and wants a divorce. Phil Potter leaves their Manhattan apartment for a much less swanky joint in Boston that he outfits with director chairs. His support system includes a Divorced Men's support group which meets in the basement of a church and has to vacate at the end of their hour for the twice as populated Divorced Women's Group. The other big support he has is in the form of his brother Mickey (Charles Durning) and his sister-in-law, Marva (Frances Sternhagen), who introduce him to school teacher Marilyn (Jill Clayburgh). Marilyn is three parts awkward, terribly honest and the perfect match for Phil...who is still a little hung up on his wife Jessica.

Jessica is an actual wreck or should I say wrecking ball! And I don't know what anyone else thought but, her singing which is Candace Bergen actually singing was terrible...truly terrible and would have had me running the other way! It's a good thing she shows up with a see-through shirt!

The men's group provides a lot of the comedy in this film...which really is a dark comedy and not like the romantic comedies of the 1980's and 1990's.

One thought struck me and probably rings true for a lot of men who are separated or divorced, it's hard to get physical with another woman because it feels like you are cheating on your wife.

I appreciated Marilyn's honesty, it was very endearing and probably just what Phil needed. I also appreciated that Phil was persistent and not deterred. I am not sure that I was 100% satisfied with the ending, but I sure hope Phil makes up for it.

My favorite seen came in the form of a fund raising "dunk the teacher" dunk tank. Having had that experience with my mom being the teacher in the tank and me having played baseball and softball since I was five...really brought back some fond memories and was probably the biggest laugh I had during the film.

Lots to enjoy, but with a very melancholy overtone and a snowy holiday backdrop that includes thanksgiving and Christmas (it was funny when the parents tell their kid to eat faster so they can leave the holiday table so the couple can fight!). I'm not sure I would recommend this to Christmas movie fans or romantics, but I probably would recommend this to people going through a separation or divorce...especially the men. This was a well acted an unapologetic film and I respect that.

There was something really sad about watching a husband and wife undressing to get in to bed together with no connection or love.

This well made adaptation of Dan Wakefield's novel has wonderful comic moments and full-bodied performances. Burt Reynolds underplays his role and does some of the finest work of his roller-coaster career (it's up there with "Boogie Nights" and "Deliverance"). Candice Bergen is hysterical in the role of the wife who wants freedom and a singing career. (Little did we know in 1979 that Bergen would go onto great comedic success as Murphy Brown)James L. Brooks does a terrific job with the screenplay - the divorced men's group scenes really ring true and the moment when they have to leave their community center space so the women's divorce group can then use the room is uncomfortable and very funny. In my opinion, Clayburgh gives an up and down performance, sometimes really connecting with Reynolds and other times she just seems to be impersonating Diane Keaton. Fine supporting work by the always reliable Charles Durning and Austin Pendleton. This film is very hard to find in video stores for some reason. I just happned to catch it again on cable and was pleasantly surprised with how well it holds up.

I'm fascinated less by how many people like this movie than by how many describe it as funny. Brooks has written a lot of funny things, but this isn't one of them. Instead, what you've got is a bunch of unlikable characters fumbling through relationships.

This movie is very much of its time, or perhaps a little after it; weren't encounter groups on the way out by 1979? Reynolds is a lump who veers from passively drifting along (like Will Farrell in Stranger Than Fiction)to being decisive and determined then back again. Clayburgh is the sort of irritating neurotic most people would run away from. Bergen, who is occasionally amusing, most notably when she sings, is shallow and self-centered.

To me, the movie felt like a justification for bad behavior. Yes, Reynolds is hurt and damaged, but he's also pushy and insensitive. The movie seems to be saying, hey, if divorced guys treat you badly, they're still swell guys, they're just confused and struggling through life.

Far too dreary to be a comedy, far too shallow and unrealistic to be a drama, and too uneventful to be a melodrama, Starting Over just sits there, of no use to anyone.

After several years as a comic book action hero, Burt Reynolds took a calculated career risk at becoming a romantic leading man in the 1979 comedy STARTING OVER and the risk paid off in spades. Reynolds turned in his best performance up to this point as Phil Potter, a writer whose wife (Candice Bergen) has just divorced him who enters, perhaps a bit too quickly, another relationship with a neurotic schoolteacher (Jill Clayburgh. This smartly directed comedy, lovingly directed by ALan J. Pakula hits all the right notes and introduces characters you care about. Bergen also opened up a whole new career for herself, showing a flair for light comedy, which resulted in her first Oscar nomination. Her musical seduction of Burt with "Better than Ever" is one of the funniest scenes in film comedies ever. Bergen's performance here was largely responsible for her being offered the role of Murphy Brown. Clayburgh (also nominated for an Oscar) is just as good, creating a quirky and heartbreaking character who evokes laughs and sympathy. It has been well documented over the years that Reynolds was deeply hurt when both of his leading ladies here received Oscar nominations and he did not. Then to add insult to injury, the Best Actress Oscar that year went to his girlfriend at the time, Sally Field. Burt should have been nominated for this film...it was beautifully controlled performance that was nothing like he had ever done before. Charles Durning and Frances Sternhage offer strong support as Phils' brother and sister-in-law and don't overlook those wonderful scenes with Burt's Divorced Men's support group. A winning romantic comedy that finally proved Burt Reynolds really knew how to act.

Phil Potter (Burt Reynolds) and his wife Jessica (Candice Bergen) are having marital issues. After one month of separation, he meets Marilyn Holmberg (Jill Clayburgh).

This got a couple of Oscar acting nominations for Bergen and Clayburgh. Clayburgh is very endearing and Reynolds' charms are self-evident. He starts out doing a sadder version of himself and that works well with Clayburgh. Their meet-cute is definitely interesting. Their chemistry is pretty good although it's not one of Burt's best pairing. Clayburgh continues to be great as a spinster and this one is adjacent to that. I don't like Jessica coming back into the story but that does add some needed drama. I didn't know that Bergen is that bad at singing or maybe she was faking it. I really don't like Jessica especially since the couple starts off in such a bad place. This is a pretty good overall 70's relationship film although it's not one of the greats despite the Oscar noms.

Maybe this movie was spot on in 1979, but in today's viewing it all falls flat. It frankly pretty boring. Good cast and decent acting, but the script falls flat, with very few funny moments. The last 1/3 of the movie is uninteresting. The general atmosphere was dreary. Some may like this though, but not for me.

Man, what a difference 20 years or so makes! I'm not sure when I saw this movie, but since it came out in 1979, and I saw it on TV (probably cable at my brother's house)-it was surely in the early 80s. I couldn't remember the movie very well (though I do distinctly remember Burt Reynolds taking the polaroids of Jill Clayburgh in the shower, and her laughing at the tall basketball player) but I knew that I thought it was funny. In fact it was funny enough to go on my short list of movies to watch again soon (you know that one that you never seem to get to). Well imagine my surprise when I saw this video in the bargain-bin of the video store here on the U.S. Army base in Yongsan Korea for two bucks!

Well I liked the movie back then, but I watched it with totally different eyes as a 37 year-old man. It was still funny, but in a much more relative way. Back then I thought Reynold's antics were charming, now I see them as irrepressible. I'm sure I thought Clayburgh's character was a little strange back then, now I see her as vulnerable and true.

This is a very good movie with numerous scenes that are funny and touching. In an industry flooded with banal romantic-comedies this should set the mark.

The unconceivable happened, Burt Reynolds had a never to play an opposite character as he used to play previously, even putting in risky his well-paved and solid career as badass actor, somehow Pakula persuaded him to accept a typical-unsure husband kicked by his gorgeous and unfaithful wife Candice Bergen, aftermaths moving to Boston to live side by side with his old brother Charles Durning a psychiatrist that allows to him all support post break-marriage in a meeting of grieving self-help group of former husbands.

Meanwhile his brother pushes him a unmarried and uncanny Jill Clayburgh to starting over as the title implied, among ups and downs the faltering new couple will living together new experiences including an unexpected visit of his Reynold's former wife, stressing the still stormy relationship, making perhaps irretrievable deep damages, it was critically acclaimed and Candice Bergen and Jill Clayburgh have been nominated on academy awards, a picture for mature brains only, passing by more than 40 years it's still fresh and contemporary.

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 1987 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.5.

Burt Reynolds played Phil Potter, a Boston publishing executive. In this film, he and his wife, Jessica, split up. She wants to pursue a singing career. Candice Bergen earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance as Jessica Potter. Phil meets Marilyn Holmburg, a school teacher, who helps him deal with the breakup. Jill Clayburgh earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance as Marilyn. Reynolds, Clayburgh and Bergen did earn Golden Globe nominations for their roles in this film. The film is a nice romantic comedy about mature adults. They don't make films like this anymore. Burt Reynolds can act aside from action films. He is totally a different character here.

Starting Over wants so badly to be the male counterpart to 1978's rousing An Unmarried Woman, and it almost succeeds. All the adults on display are complicated, nearing 40, desperate for love, and as unsure about the future as they were when they were teenagers. This time, however, Jill Clayburgh is not the newly divorced leading character; she's the love interest and Burt Reynolds is the divorcée. Starting Over has the majority of the ingredients to make An Unmarried Woman 2: An Unmarried Man, but it's missing two important aspects: Paul Mazursky, and a character as fundamentally compelling as Erica Benton.

Phil Potter (Reynolds) has been a good husband for years. He's never ceased to be faithful, he's always contributed to the relationship, and he's brought home the bacon day in and day out. But one day, his wife, Jessica (Candice Bergen), announces that she desires a divorce — it's time she cut the restraints of marriage and pursue a career as a professional singer. But in truth, she has begun an affair with Phil's boss and craves new romance.

Jessica is human garbage, but Phil is lost without her. He hasn't gone on a date for years, and he isn't ready to tackle life as a single man. But after just a few crappy dates, he finds himself falling for Marilyn (Clayburgh), a teacher that his brother set him up with. Marilyn is self-deprecating and attractive in a non-threatening sort of way — the second we see her, we can only hope that Phil will marry her in a quaint romantic comedy fashion. Yet he finds himself still drawn to Jessica, something that doesn't sit well with Marilyn, who has burgeoning commitment issues.

Starting Over is pleasant, but it doesn't have the affecting aura that An Unmarried Woman had. I'm one that despises the idea of basing another film's accomplishments off of another, but Starting Over has so many similar aspects that it's nearly impossible not to.

The film begins with a divorce, and that's one of the biggest mistakes it makes. In An Unmarried Woman there was a period in which Erica Benton was happily married, a sympathetic witness to her friends marital issues — when her husband announced his infidelities, it came as an unrelenting shock to us and the leading heroine. But because there is no time to process or understand the marriage between Phil and Jessica, all we know is that she must be a bitch and he must be a saint. In later scenes, she serenades him in an over-the-top fashion to parallel her flighty singing career, telling us that she's crazy and he's stable.

Starting Over struggles so much because we don't get to know the characters well enough to really care about them. Phil is such a thinly sketched character that it's hard to even understand why women are really charmed by him; he's mild-mannered and devoid of personality. He's a nice guy, but is that really enough? Bergen takes on the Michael Murphy role and isn't given nearly enough to work with. Murphy's crocodile tear shedding husband to Clayburgh's Erica was a product of marital boredom; we couldn't hate him, but we also couldn't understand why he'd abandon someone has wonderful as his wife. Bergen's Jessica is such a caricature that all we want to do is boo and hiss at her; but we can never see things from her point of view.

The lone bright spot in Starting Over is Clayburgh, who is alive with spunk, disarmingly funny. But when the love interest is more fascinating than the main character, you know you have a problem. It's even worse, though, when that love interest plays Erica Benton in An Unmarried Woman. And after watching Starting Over, I found myself simply wanting to watch An Unmarried Woman again. Sue me.

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"Starting Over" works very well because it's a film made for and by adults. And it's got some very funny moments.

Yes, it's got all the trappings of a typical "ROMCOM" but back in 1979, the ROMCOM formula had not developed into the hackneyed, tiresome concept that it became. By the late 90's, the style that "Starting Over" began seems to have expired (it arguably reached it's zenith circa 1994 with "Sleeping in Seattle". Whether one liked that movie or not, all the trappings of the stylized ROMCOM formula were firmly and grossly used in that one.) But I digress.

"Starting Over" works so well because of Pakula's typical very low keyed direction which allows James L. Brooks' screenplay to shine. But this film would be nothing without the cast. Clayburgh is fine but of the three leads, she's the least appealing. Don't get me wrong. She's an engaging presence in the film and it's quite understandable why Reynolds is attracted to her (except for a shower scene in which, to me, she over reacts). The hands down winners in this film are Reynolds and especially Bergen. Bergen tapped into a completely unexpected flair for comedy as a royally flaky song writing ex-wife of Reynolds. She's a gas especially in an hysterical scene when she begins singing a disco ditty ("Better Than Ever") in a hotel room while trying to reconcile with Reynolds.

Reynolds is a complete revelation. Gone is his trademark mustache and cockiness and it works to marvelous effect. He's mature, low key and completely likable. It would've been so easy for Reynolds to play down the part to the point where he appears to be sleepwalking (ala William Hurt in "The Accidental Tourist"). But here, though he's depressed, he's also alive. He's just a guy going through something that he wishes he didn't have to. He loves/likes his ex-wife and can't understand why he's the odd man out.

From a plot and structural standpoint, "Starting Over" isn't much. It's setup and resolution are standard and completely unremarkable. Aside from the wonderful cast and good writing, the film is photographed beautifully by Sven Nyquist. This Swede (who was Ingmar Bergman's chief Director of Photography) knows how to film chilly northern environments and he gives Boston in winter an appealing glow.

This is a totally charming and mature romantic comedy unlike anything Hollywood puts out today. It has aged amazingly well and delivers big laughs, soft chuckles, and a few deep sighs. This time, I especially enjoyed when Burt Reynolds, as Phil Potter, shows up at Jill Clayburgh's (Marilyn) and she is having a candlelit dinner for one. The scenes of the divorced men's group are wonderful, as many have already noted. And Candice Bergen was truly funny. If you see this one listed in your TV Guide, make a date with it.

Between this movie and The End, this is what Burt Reynolds should have been doing all along. In the few vehicles that he's given himself to work in some sort of halfway sophisticated comedy, he shows himself to be a master at timing and understatement. He could have built a career for himself as the level, likable handsome lead who is continually put upon by wacky supporting characters and sticky situations.

I think it's a shame that Burt Reynolds opted for so much lowbrow drive-in movie slapstick or for playing caricatured hardboiled detective sex symbol types and supposed Dixie anti-heroes. He's got so much more talent than that.

Released in 1979, "Starting Over" is a romantic dramedy about a recently divorced man, Phil Potter (Burt Reynolds), who tries to get back into dating and finds a new potential mate (Jill Clayburgh) while the ex-wife still hovers (Candice Bergen). Charles Durning and Frances Sternhagen are on hand as the protagonist's brother and sister-in-law.

Who knew Burt could do drama? This movie proves it; and the first hour is quite entertaining, as far as romcoms go. Bergen is stunning and it's hard to see Phil settling for Clayburgh's character. In any case, amusing moments abound. Unfortunately, the last 45 minutes morph into a slow-moving bore. It's almost like they hired someone else to write the third act. If it weren't for the dull third act I'd easily give this a grade of "B" or 7/10. Still, this is a must-see if you're a fan of Reynolds (or Bergen, even though her role plays second fiddle to Clayburgh).

The film runs 105 minutes and was shot in the Boston area.

GRADE: C+

Just coming off producing and writing the classic sitcoms, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Taxi", James L. Brooks wrote the screenplay, his first, for this 1979 divorce comedy. Even after all these years and finally out on DVD, it remains funny, perceptive and thoroughly engaging in a way that later crystallized into Brooks' film-making trademark in "Terms of Endearment" and "As Good As It Gets". Fortunately, the director is the accomplished Alan J. Pakula, who shows a flair for romantic comedy coaxing excellent performances from the three stars.

The plot centers on Phil Potter, a magazine writer-turned-writing teacher who has been informed by his beautiful but flaky wife Jessica that she wants a divorce. Without much recourse, he seeks solace from his bear-hugging psychiatrist brother Mickey and sister-in-law Marva, who eventually set him up on a blind date with Marilyn, a mild-mannered, rather dowdy nursery schoolteacher. The movie then becomes a clever seesaw of Phil vacillating between his wife and potential new love interest. What remains fresh about the movie is how Pakula and Brooks keep the focus on the flawed characters and less on the predictable clichés about the awkward consequences of divorce.

Even taking into account his comeback turn in Paul Thomas Anderson's 1997 "Boogie Nights", I doubt if Burt Reynolds has given a more subtle, genuinely humane performance than he does here. Cast completely against type (he was in his Smokey/Hooper/Sharkey action phase at the time), he makes Phil's uncertainty feel real - even at the risk of losing audience sympathy in the way he treats Marilyn no matter how inadvertently. In the afterglow of her brilliant work in Paul Mazursky's "An Unmarried Woman", Jill Clayburgh again demonstrates the malleable quality and fierce intelligence to make her deglamorized Marilyn an attractive and credibly cautious woman. In a revelation before her long, successful run as "Murphy Brown", a deadpan Candice Bergen breaks free from her heretofore vacuously decorative roles and supplies the movie's biggest laughs as the narcissistic Jessica, especially when she sings with uproariously tone-deaf panache to seduce Phil in her hotel room.

There is also a terrific supporting cast - Charles Durning bringing out all the unctuous support that Mickey can muster; a scene-stealing Frances Sternhagen as Marva, more than anxious to provide Phil emotional support when he is down and out; Austin Pendleton as a needy member of Phil's divorced men's club, who keeps remarrying his ex-wife; and Mary Kay Place in a funny cameo as Phil's aggressive first post-marital date. Other than Marilyn's unflattering outfits (the orange down jacket is hideous), Marvin Hamlisch's seventies-lite pop music is really the only significant element that dates the movie severely. The divorced men's club meeting scenes are hilarious, and you can see Jay O. Sanders and Wallace Shawn as fellow members. Unlike other romantic comedies of the period full of I'm-OK-You're-OK pop psychology, this one is still well worth viewing.

There are two things that connect the romantic-comedy STARTING OVER with Burt Reynolds' career breakthrough DELIVERANCE: he doesn't have the defining mustache, and it's not a "Burt Reynolds Movie" but a movie he co-stars in with other people...

Budding TV-writer and future mogul James L. Brooks's STARTING OVER story is directed by Alan J. Pakula, more prone to political thrillers... and he's about as comfortable here directing as Burt is being basically stuck in a vehicle that would have far better suited an Alan Alda, Henry Winkler or Charles Grodin type...

As least a genuine comedic actor would have attempted adding spark to this newly-divorced man, thrust back onto the big city dating scene of endearingly neurotic women... and while it's good Burt was able to NOT portray another cocky playboy, and actually function as a humble human being, he's simply too good-looking to be an average face-in-the-crowd junior-college instructor who, like in SEMI-TOUGH, winds up instantly smitten with Jill Clayburgh, who seems more like his progressive librarian aunt, modelling an offbeat personality based from Diane Keaton in ANNIE HALL...

Meanwhile Candice Bergen as Burt's songwriting ex-wife is even worse at comedy than drama... Never a good actress to begin with yet always extremely beautiful, we don't know enough about how their marriage was during the good times for their breakup and predictable reconciliation to matter...

Brooks would end-up writing/adapting AND directing much better cinematic soaps with BROADCAST NEWS, AS GOOD AS IT GETS after beginning with the game-changing TERMS OF ENDEARMENT... which was supposed to have Burt play the womanizing astronaut that gave Jack Nicholson his second Oscar...

But what Brooks saw in Reynolds based on this performance is as enigmatic as whatever Reynolds saw in a script that doesn't even allow him to return to his genuine acting-for-the-sake-of-acting roots... or to stretch himself in what's an intentionally grounded romantic-comedy where he basically sleepwalks for two extremely long hours.