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Starting Over (1979)

Rate: 6
Viewed: 7/26

StartOver
7/26: Remember Deliverance, White Lightning, and Smokey and the Bandit?

Well, forget them. Burt Reynolds wanted a change of scenery by taking the Jack Nicholson route to show everybody he could be that good of an actor. At the same time, he complained how no director of prominence would give him a meaty role for contention at the Academy Awards. Enter Starting Over. Out is the good ol' boy persona, in is the very serious Burt Reynolds.

Prior to seeing the film, I knew Burt Reynolds had been adamant many times over that it was among his best works and that he should've been Oscar-nominated. I'm sorry to say that I have to disagree with him. His Charles Grodin-like performance is just okay, but had he done more drama films, perhaps something would've worked in his favor. Not to worry, Boogie Nights happened albeit a couple of decades later.

The story is realistic and reflective of those middle-aged people going through divorce at the time, but it's not interesting enough. I was actually thinking of '8' until the last thirty minutes, causing me to realize that my emotional investment in the characters went for naught. Yes, James L. Brooks' mostly unfunny screenplay is solid, but if I think about how much the characters gave in Urban Cowboy which came out the following year, Starting Over falls woefully short in that department.

At least, it's a strong acting job by Jill Clayburgh, deserving the Oscar nomination by playing a substantial character while being worked over by Burt Reynolds. But another went to Candice Bergen? Yeah, right, yet she did finally break away from the flat performances she had been wont to give for many years. By the way, Burt Reynolds mentioned that his character represented the real him; that's true in parts, especially when he had an anxiety attack and needed a brown paper bag before being offered Valium.

All in all, fans of Burt Reynolds will probably be more disappointed than pleased with Starting Over.