This picture went nowhere when it was released in 1982, going almost immediately to cable, mostly because it didn't match the Brazilian movie on which it's based. But seen on its own now, after more than twenty years, it's a well made, well written and played comedy for adults, especially when compared to the stupidly vulgar and juvenile "comedies" produced now. It does descend to the "sitcom" level now and again (underlined by Ralph Burns' incidental score, which "mickey mouses" every move, in the manner of 40s comedies) but still, it has many sweet and touching moments.
The cast is exceptional, with everyone well-cast for their roles. The choice that I've only recently "gotten" is Claire Trevor as Sally Field's character's mother. Trevor made a career of playing "dames" (as in her brilliant showing as Edward G. Robinson's alcoholic moll in "Key Largo"), and I never got why SHE was chosen to play the society-matron mother in this, a "comeback" role for her. And why should she "adore" the character Kay's first husband so much, a womanizing dancer/choreographer, more than the stalwart, upper middle class WASP-Y scientist, played with quiet amusement by Jeff Bridges, whom Kay has chosen as her second husband, perhaps a more "appropriate" choice? But one telling line hints at something: Bridges character's comment about a hat the mother is wearing in one scene: "Are batteries included?" Perhaps the mother isn't quite what she seems, not from a "society" family but an actress who married into money? Someone who ALMOST "gets" it, the way to dress and talk and behave, but not quite... Now THAT makes sense for the choice of Trevor for the role. But this is the only hint in the writing. To me this is an intriguing explanation.
The cast is exceptional, with everyone well-cast for their roles. The choice that I've only recently "gotten" is Claire Trevor as Sally Field's character's mother. Trevor made a career of playing "dames" (as in her brilliant showing as Edward G. Robinson's alcoholic moll in "Key Largo"), and I never got why SHE was chosen to play the society-matron mother in this, a "comeback" role for her. And why should she "adore" the character Kay's first husband so much, a womanizing dancer/choreographer, more than the stalwart, upper middle class WASP-Y scientist, played with quiet amusement by Jeff Bridges, whom Kay has chosen as her second husband, perhaps a more "appropriate" choice? But one telling line hints at something: Bridges character's comment about a hat the mother is wearing in one scene: "Are batteries included?" Perhaps the mother isn't quite what she seems, not from a "society" family but an actress who married into money? Someone who ALMOST "gets" it, the way to dress and talk and behave, but not quite... Now THAT makes sense for the choice of Trevor for the role. But this is the only hint in the writing. To me this is an intriguing explanation.