Starting Over

My first job ever was - you guessed it - an usher at a movie theater. I was 16 and the year was 1979. A lot of great movies came to the Trans-Lux Cinema at Landmark Square in Stamford, Connecticut that year - Apocalypse Now, Manhattan, The Rose, Being There, North Dallas Forty - and I saw them all so many times I can probably still quote them verbatim. One film that enjoyed an especially long run was Starting Over, an R-rated romantic comedy directed by Alan J. Pakula. It was a big hit 45 years ago, raking in more than $38 million (a tidy sum in those days) and ranking #16 on the year-end box office list, but for some reason, it's not particularly well remembered...except maybe by me. Though I was only a teenager and couldn't relate at all to the tale of a newly divorced, middle-aged man trying to pick up the pieces of his shattered life, I found it wickedly funny, sexy, heartwarming, and very sweet. And I'm happy to report it still hits all those notes today.

When his aspiring singer-songwriter (and tone-deaf) wife Jessica (Candice Bergen) abruptly ends their marriage, Phil Potter (Burt Reynolds) trades the Big Apple for Beantown, where his nurturing brother Mickey (Charles Durning) and sister-in-law Marva (Frances Sternhagen) can provide companionship and maybe fix him up with a more compassionate and selfless mate. Their friend Marilyn Holmberg (Jill Clayburgh), also a recent victim of love, seems like a perfect match, and after some initial reticence, she agrees to go out with Phil.

A romance begins, and though Phil adjusts to life in Boston with a new apartment and job and the support of a divorced men's therapy group, he remains hopelessly hung up on his manipulative ex-wife in New York. When Jessica decides she wants Phil back, the wholesome Marilyn struggles to compete with her rival's allure while refusing to be a puppet on a string for the bewildered and wishy-washy Phil, who can't decide who or what he wants.

All the characters are starting over to a certain degree and they all face challenges in the process. The terrific script by future director James L. Brooks, which he adapted from Dan Wakefield's semi-autobiographical novel, incisively examines such issues as loneliness, betrayal, the vagaries of dating, the age-old battle of the sexes, and - most memorably - anxiety, but always through the prism of comedy. (The line "Does anybody have a Valium?" leads to the movie's best sight gag.) Brooks, who at the time was the guiding force behind such popular TV sitcoms as The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda, develops a lyrical comic rhythm and laces his very first screenplay with refreshingly adult language and risqué situations that never would have passed the television censors. Though it seems a bit tame and dated today, Starting Over nevertheless earns its R rating. The film launched Brooks' big screen career and paved the way for his next project, the Oscar-winning Terms of Endearment, four years later.

Pakula rarely delved into comedy, so Starting Over was new territory for him, too. Though the project might seem like an odd choice for the director of Klute, The Parallax View, and All the President's Men, he fully embraces the genre. His sardonic approach produces a plethora of laugh-out-loud moments and his laser focus on the characters, rather than the situations in which they find themselves, makes the comedy more human. As a result, Starting Over is funnier and more relatable than the garden variety romcom. Given Pakula's impressive cinematic résumé (he also produced To Kill a Mockingbird) and the relative lightweight subject matter, Starting Over often gets overlooked in discussions of Pakula's filmography, but it's a worthy credit and deserves more respect than it gets.

The role of Phil was a severe change of pace for Reynolds, who even shaved off his trademark mustache to more fully embody the character. The star of such frivolous fare as Smokey and the Bandit and Semi-Tough threw himself into the part and filed a completely disarming and successful portrayal. His understated performance and priceless deadpan expressions carry the film, and he was reportedly devastated when his efforts were not rewarded with an Oscar nomination. He certainly deserved one.

His two leading ladies got them instead. It's impossible not to fall hook-line-and-sinker in love with Clayburgh, who previously co-starred with Reynolds in Semi-Tough. Her endearing, spunky, heartbreaking, and utterly authentic portrayal is riveting and makes us wish she could have been Tinseltown's go-to girl in countless future romantic comedies. Of course, Clayburgh was too good an actress to allow herself to be typecast, but rarely does anyone invest herself so completely in this type of part. Clayburgh may have been the poster woman for feminism after playing the title role in An Unmarried Woman, but she proves she's equally at home as a single, independent woman who longs for dependency and emotional security with Hollywood's hottest hunk.

Reynolds and Clayburgh are great, but Starting Over's biggest surprise was Bergen. Those of us today who know her mostly from the iconic TV sitcom Murphy Brown won't think her portrayal of Jessica is anything outside the norm, but back in 1979 Bergen was regarded as a statuesque, drop-dead-gorgeous ice queen who decorated countless movies, but kept her audiences at arm's length. No one - except maybe Pakula - knew she was capable of extracting belly laughs, and that's exactly what she does in Starting Over. With brave abandon (and a raspy, shrill voice that could shred steel), she lets her hair down, comes out of her shell, and walks away with the picture. I remember so well when I first saw her sing "Better Than Ever" (see video clip below) to a nonplussed Reynolds whose blank expression conveys utter horror. I howled, as did everyone else every night in the Trans-Lux Cinema. This wasn't the Candice Bergen any of us had seen before and her mic-drop performance would alter the trajectory of her career. Were it not for Jessica Potter, chances are good we never would have had Murphy Brown. (In a bit of delicious serendipity and foreshadowing, her Murphy Brown co-star Charles Kimbrough has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it part in Starting Over.)

In addition to the trio of leads, the supporting cast is packed with esteemed actors who enhance the material. Durning and Sternhagen make a priceless couple, Mary Kay Place is a hoot as Phil's nightmare blind date, and Austin Pendleton brings his inimitable brand of nerdiness to his role as one of Phil's support group cronies. Wallace Shawn also turns up in that therapy session and eagle eyes will spot a young Daniel Stern as a college student in Phil's creative writing class.

Starting Over is very much a movie of its time, but it contains enough timeless moments and themes to remain relevant more than four decades later. It's still funny, charming, wise, sweet, and altogether adorable, just like Clayburgh. There aren't many movies both 16-year-old me and 61-year-old me still love, but Starting Over is one of them. It's not a guilty pleasure; it's sheer pleasure from start to finish.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Starting Over arrives on Blu-ray packaged in a standard case inside a sleeve with a matte finish. Video codec is 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 and audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono. Once the disc is inserted into the player, the static menu with Stephanie Mills' infectious rendition of "Better Than Ever" immediately pops up; no previews or promos precede it.

A brand new 4K master struck from the original camera negative yields an absolutely lovely 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer. Starting Over takes place during the winter months in the frigid Northeast, so its palette is rather dreary, but bursts of brilliant color enliven the image, which flaunts just enough grain to maintain a cozy film-like appearance. Excellent contrast and clarity, deep blacks, bright, stable whites, and great shadow delineation make this transfer a definite improvement over the previous DVD. Reds - like Bergen's vest in the supermarket scene and Reynolds' Santa suit - especially pop, but lush greens also grab attention. Sharp close-ups showcase Bergen's beauty, Clayburgh's peaches-and-cream complexion (as well as some serious snot that fans of the film will certainly remember), and Reynolds' rugged, olive-colored skin. Any stray nicks, marks, or dirt that dotted the DVD have been meticulously erased, leaving a pristine image that faithfully honors the work of Ingmar Bergman's favored cinematographer and two-time Oscar-winner Sven Nykvist. If you're a fan of this delightful romantic comedy, you'll surely want to upgrade.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track supplies clear, well-modulated sound. A wide dynamic scale helps the bouncy, ‘70s music score by Marvin Hamlisch fill the room with ease and allows all the ear-splitting coarseness of Bergen’s screechy vocals to achieve their maximum impact. Terrific fidelity and tonal depth enhance Stephanie Mills’ disco-infused rendition of “Better Than Ever” over the closing credits, and though there aren’t many notable audio effects in this romcom, subtle atmospherics are crisp. All the marvelous dialogue is easy to comprehend and no distortion or surface noise mar the mix.

Aside from an array of trailers that sadly don't include Starting Over, the only extra is an audio commentary by film historians Daniel Kremer and Howard S. Berger.

• Audio Commentary featuring Howard S. Berger and Daniel Kremer - The duo begins by talking about how the part of Phil Potter was a departure for Reynolds yet close to his actual personality. They also note a few differences between the novel and screenplay, examine Pakula's low-key style and sensitivity regarding the theme of loneliness, discuss the emergence of James L. Brooks' voice as a feature film writer, and touch upon the influence of director George Stevens on Pakula. Other topics include the arcs of Reynolds' career, analysis of the plot and characters, Bergen's metamorphosis from icy glamor girl to comedienne, and Clayburgh’s brief standing as "the avatar of the new, late-'70s woman." This is a far more serious commentary than one might expect for a film of this sort and well worth checking out if you’re a Starting Over fan.
• KLSC Trailers

Starting Over has always held a special place in my movie-going heart and I’m pleased as punch this punchy 1970s romcom still delivers laughs, warmth, and truth more than 40 years later. The performances of Reynolds, Clayburgh, and Bergen hold up well and KLSC’s top-notch Blu-ray presentation featuring a brand new 4K master struck from the original camera negative and vibrant lossless audio nicely freshens up this delightful film. Highly Recommended.