Old Boyfriends

Last updated
Old Boyfriends
Old Boyfriends poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Joan Tewkesbury
Written by Paul Schrader
Leonard Schrader
Produced by Edward R. Pressman
Michele Rappaport
Starring Talia Shire
Richard Jordan
Keith Carradine
John Belushi
John Houseman
Buck Henry
Cinematography William A. Fraker
Edited by William H. Reynolds
Music by David Shire
Production
company
Pressman Film
Distributed by AVCO Embassy Pictures
Release date
  • April 13, 1979 (1979-04-13) [1]
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3 million [2]

Old Boyfriends is a 1979 American drama film directed by Joan Tewkesbury and written by the brothers Paul and Leonard Schrader. The film stars Talia Shire, Richard Jordan, Keith Carradine, John Belushi, John Houseman and Buck Henry. [3] [4] The film was released on March 22, 1979, by Embassy Pictures.

Contents

Plot

Dianne Cruise is a clinical psychologist who is suffering with an identity crisis and struggling with her marriage. In an attempt to learn about herself, Dianne goes on a road trip to reconnect with three of her old boyfriends.

Her first stop is in Colorado, where she appears on the set of a documentary movie that her college boyfriend, Jeff Turin is making. It's a campaign ad for a state politician. The star of the ad is Sam the Fisherman, who criticizes the political opponent for policies that lead to the pollution of streams. On the set Sam the Fisherman flirts with Cruise. After the ad has finished shooting, Cruise joins the cast and crew at a bar, where Sam attempts again to seduce Cruise, unsuccessfully. Turin and Cruise start talking, and they agree to meet again the next night in the parking lot.

They meet again the next night and return to Cruise's hotel, where they have sex. They both tell each other they are married, but Cruise later tells Turin that her husband has committed suicide. Turin then tells Cruise that his wife has left him and is living with an artist in Canada. After a brief affair, Cruise leaves without saying goodbye to Turin.

The second destination is Minneapolis, where she finds her high school boyfriend, Eric Katz, who started a formal-wear business and is in a band that plays high school dances and sad hotel lounges. She meets him by calling his business and requesting that a formal dress be dropped off for a conference she's attending. When Katz appears at her hotel room, he realizes that Cruise is his ex-girlfriend, and he invites her to see two of his shows. He attempts to seduce her but she initially refuses. After the second show, in a high school gymnasium, Cruise agrees to sleep with Katz. They drive in her muscle car to a scenic look-out. Cruise asks Katz to pretend to bully her into having sex, re-enacting an episode from their high school relationship in which he did cajole her into having sex and then subsequently bragged about it to his friends and humiliated her. While leading Katz to believe that they are about to have sex, Cruise gets Katz out of her car, and then drives away, leaving him at the look-out with no pants and avenging the earlier treatment Katz subjected her to.

Meanwhile, her college boyfriend, Turin, hires a private investigator, Art Kopple to find Cruise. While they are in Kopple's office, he makes some phone calls and finds Cruise's place of business and home address. Turin goes to the clinic where Cruise works, and is informed by her boss that she left abruptly, and that her husband, David Brinks, is still alive and did not commit suicide. Turin then visits Brinks.

Cruise's third destination is a small town, where she tries to track down her first boyfriend. She checks into a hotel across the street from the ex-boyfriend's childhood home. Cruise knocks on the door and meets her ex-boyfriend's younger brother and mother. The younger brother, Wayne Van Til (Keith Carradine), informs Cruise that her former boyfriend was killed in Vietnam.

The mother confides in Cruise that Wayne has been damaged by the death of his older brother, is still living at home, has no job and no friends.

Cruise offers to work with Wayne and help him recover from the emotional trauma of his older brother's death. Cruise and Van Til, however, become sexually involved, which has a negative effect on Wayne's emotional health and leads to his re-hospitalization. After being scolded by Wayne's mother, Cruise goes to the hospital, and meets with Van Til's psychiatrist, Dr. Hoffman. Dr. Hoffman condemns her for inflicting emotional distress on Wayne.

At the end of the film, Turin confronts Cruise at her home, and they reunite as a couple.

Cast

Production

Old Boyfriends was made without a distribution deal. The film had a cost of $2.5 million in cash and $0.5 million in deferments. Talia's husband David Shire scored the movie. [2]

Reception

Old Boyfriends received mixed reviews upon release. Vincent Canby of The New York Times called it "a movie in which the characters are more intelligent and interesting than anything they are required to do ... The writing veers back and forth between the good and the appalling." [5] Dale Pollock of Variety wrote, "What's missing, in both the Schraders' script and Tewkesbury's direction, is a strong sense of just why Shire is trying to recapture her past, other than idle curiosity. As in other Schrader pix, the characters are carefully distanced, and only Jordan projects any real warmth." [6] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4 and wrote that it was "wildly uneven" in tone and had "too many stories. I would have preferred that one relationship, the adult one with Richard Jordan, had been examined in greater detail. She and Jordan seem like an interesting couple. But their rapprochement is rudely severed and what follows after their first encounter appears to be dictated by psychological theory." [7] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times stated, "Despite the raucous interlude with Belushi, 'Old Boyfriends' is a quiet and well-observed romantic drama and a promising start for a directing career, revealing most particularly a gift for evoking good performances." [8] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post wrote, "In 'Old Boyfriends,' director Joan Tewkesbury and a talented cast end up hostages to an unsalvageable script." [9]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 53% from 15 reviews. [10]

John Belushi performs "Jailhouse Rock" with his character's bar band. On keyboards is fellow Blues Brother Murphy Dunne. Belushi himself chose the musicians who appeared as his bandmates.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Belushi</span> American comedian, actor and musician (1949–1982)

John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was one of seven Saturday Night Live cast members of the first season. Along with Chevy Chase, he was arguably the most popular member of the Saturday Night Live ensemble. Belushi had a partnership with Dan Aykroyd. They had first met while at Chicago's The Second City comedy club, remaining together as cast members on the inaugural season of the television show Saturday Night Live.

<i>Nashville</i> (film) 1975 American musical comedy-drama film by Robert Altman

Nashville is a 1975 American musical comedy drama film directed and produced by Robert Altman. The film follows various people involved in the country and gospel music industry in Nashville, Tennessee, over the five-day period leading up to a gala concert for a populist outsider running for president on the Replacement Party ticket.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Carradine</span> American actor (1906-1988)

John Carradine was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, known for his roles in horror films, Westerns, and Shakespearean theater, most notably portraying Count Dracula in House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945), Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966), and Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula (1979). Among his other notable roles was “Preacher Casy” in John Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath. In later decades of his career, he starred mostly in low-budget B-movies. In total, he holds 351 film and television credits, making him one of the most prolific English-speaking film and television actors of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Carradine</span> American actor (born 1954)

Robert Reed Carradine is an American actor. A member of the Carradine family, he made his first appearances on television Western series such as Bonanza and his brother David's TV series, Kung Fu. Carradine's first film role was in the 1972 film The Cowboys, which starred John Wayne and Roscoe Lee Browne. Carradine also portrayed fraternity president Lewis Skolnick in the Revenge of the Nerds series of comedy films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Carradine</span> American actor (born 1949)

Keith Ian Carradine is an American actor. In film he is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman's Nashville, E. J. Bellocq in Louis Malle's Pretty Baby, and Mickey in Alan Rudolph's Choose Me. On television he is known for his roles as Wild Bill Hickok on the HBO series Deadwood, FBI agent Frank Lundy on the Showtime series Dexter, Lou Solverson in the first season of FX's Fargo, Penny's father Wyatt on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, and U.S. President Conrad Dalton on the CBS political drama Madam Secretary.

<i>1941</i> (film) 1979 film by Steven Spielberg

1941 is a 1979 American war comedy film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. The film stars an ensemble cast including Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, John Belushi, John Candy, Christopher Lee, Tim Matheson, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Stack, Nancy Allen, and Mickey Rourke in his film debut. The story involves a panic in the Los Angeles area after the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

<i>Moms Got a Date with a Vampire</i> 2000 television film directed by Steve Boyum

Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire is a 2000 American made-for-television horror-comedy film directed by Steve Boyum and starring Caroline Rhea, Matt O'Leary, Charles Shaughnessy, Laura Vandervoort, and Robert Carradine. It aired as a Disney Channel Original Movie, premiering on the Disney Channel on Friday, October 13, 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Jordan</span> American film and theatrical actor (1937–1993)

Robert Anson Jordan Jr. was an American actor. A long-time member of the New York Shakespeare Festival, he performed in many Off Broadway and Broadway plays. His films include Logan's Run, Les Misérables, Old Boyfriends, Raise the Titanic, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, The Yakuza, Interiors, The Bunker, Dune, The Secret of My Success, Timebomb, The Hunt for Red October, Posse and Gettysburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Shire</span> American songwriter and composer

David Lee Shire is an American songwriter and composer of stage musicals, film and television scores. Among his best known works are the motion picture soundtracks to The Big Bus, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, The Conversation, All the President's Men, and parts of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack such as "Manhattan Skyline". His other work includes the score of the 1985 film Return to Oz, and the stage musical scores of Baby, Big, Closer Than Ever, and Starting Here, Starting Now. Shire is married to actress Didi Conn.

<i>Homo Erectus</i> (film) 2007 comedy film by Adam Rifkin

Homo Erectus is a 2007 American comedy film written and directed by Adam Rifkin, and starring Giuseppe Andrews, Gary Busey, David Carradine, Ron Jeremy, Ali Larter, Hayes MacArthur, Adam Rifkin, Talia Shire and Sasha Grey in her film acting debut. The film premiered at the 2007 Slamdance Film Festival in January 2007.

<i>Easy Riders, Raging Bulls</i> 1998 book by Peter Biskind

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N Roll Generation Saved Hollywood is a book by Peter Biskind, published by Simon & Schuster in 1998, about ostensibly the 1960s and 1970s Hollywood, a period of American film known for the production of such films such as The Godfather,The Godfather Part II,The French Connection,Chinatown,Taxi Driver,Jaws,Star Wars,The Exorcist, and The Last Picture Show. The title is taken from films which bookend the era: Easy Rider (1969) and Raging Bull (1980).

<i>The Blues Brothers</i> (film) 1980 film by John Landis

The Blues Brothers is a 1980 American musical action comedy film directed by John Landis. It stars John Belushi as "Joliet" Jake Blues and Dan Aykroyd as his brother Elwood, characters developed from the recurring musical sketch "The Blues Brothers" on NBC's variety series Saturday Night Live. The script is set in and around Chicago, Illinois, where it was filmed, and the screenplay is by Aykroyd and Landis. It features musical numbers by singers James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and John Lee Hooker. It features non-musical supporting performances by Carrie Fisher and Henry Gibson.

<i>Prophecy</i> (film) 1979 American sci-fi horror film directed by John Frankenheimer

Prophecy is a 1979 American science fiction monster horror-thriller film directed by John Frankenheimer and written by David Seltzer. It stars Robert Foxworth, Talia Shire and Armand Assante. Set along the Androscoggin or Ossipee River, the film follows an environmental agent and his wife filing a report on a paper mill in the river, not knowing that the paper mill's waste has polluted the river, causing mutations to man and beast alike. One of these animals, a local bear, runs amok in the wilderness.

Joan Tewkesbury is an American film and television director, writer, producer, choreographer and actress. She had a long association with the celebrated director Robert Altman, writing the screenplays for Thieves Like Us (1974), and Nashville (1975), widely regarded as "Altman's masterpiece", and which earned her a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay.

Leonard Schrader was an American screenwriter and director, most notable for his ability to write Japanese-language films and for his many collaborations with his brother, Paul Schrader. He earned an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay he wrote for the film Kiss of the Spider Woman.

George "Murphy" Dunne is an American actor and musician. He played "Murph", the keyboardist for the Blues Brothers, in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, a role he reprised in the sequel, Blues Brothers 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Hemingway</span> American writer, son of Ernest Hemingway

John Hadley Nicanor Hemingway was a Canadian-American fly fisherman, conservationist, and writer. He was the son of American novelist and Nobel Prize-laureate Ernest Hemingway.

<i>I Saw What You Did</i> (1988 film) 1988 television film by Fred Walton

I Saw What You Did is a 1988 American made-for-television horror film directed by Fred Walton, with a screenplay by Cynthia Cidre. It is a remake of the 1965 theatrical film of the same name starring Joan Crawford, and the second adaptation of Out of the Dark by Ursula Curtiss. The film stars Shawnee Smith and Tammy Lauren as teenage friends Kim Fielding and Lisa Harris, respectively, and Candace Cameron as Kim's younger sister Julia; opposite them is Robert Carradine as the mentally disturbed Adrian Lancer, and David Carradine as his brother Stephen. While making prank phone calls pretending to know who the other person is, and what they've done, Kim and Lisa call Adrian, who has recently murdered his girlfriend, causing him to set out to find them.

Born Into Exile is a 1997 television film directed by Eric Laneuville. It featured Seann William Scott in his film debut.

<i>Follow the Stars Home</i> 2001 television film directed by Dick Lowry

Follow the Stars Home is a 2001 American made-for-television romantic drama film directed by Dick Lowry. The film is based upon Luanne Rice's 2000 novel of the same name and was produced for the Hallmark Hall of Fame.

References

  1. ↑ "Old Boyfriends - Details". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . American Film Institute . Retrieved May 18, 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Pressman, Now In California, Sets Six Features For Release". Variety . May 31, 1978. p. 38.
  3. ↑ "Old Boyfriends (1979) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Old Boyfriends". TV Guide. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Canby, Vincent (March 22, 1979). "Film: 'Boyfriends' By Joan Tewkesbury". The New York Times . p. C15.
  6. ↑ Pollock, Dale (March 21, 1979). "Film Reviews: Old Boyfriends". Variety . p. 24.
  7. ↑ Siskel, Gene (May 2, 1979). "A fine idea, but too many 'Boyfriends' spoil the plot". Chicago Tribune . Section 3, p. 2.
  8. ↑ Champlin, Charles (April 12, 1979). "Backtracking to 'Boyfriends'". Los Angeles Times . Part IV, p. 1.
  9. ↑ Arnold, Gary (April 27, 1979). "Narcissistic Odyssey". The Washington Post . p. C1.
  10. ↑ "Old Boyfriends".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.