It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Abbie (Billy Crystal) is a surgeon who just had a heart attack. On his on again off again girlfriend Lisa (JoBeth Williams)'s insistence, he visits his estranged father Abe (Alan King). Abe is a failed actor/extra who is slowly suffering from dementia.Henry Winkler directs this movie. He doesn't really have any vision or style. All he does is just turn on the camera and let the actors go. And that's what Alan King does. He's manic. He's powerful. Billy Crystal is playing the angry young man trying to reconnect with his crazy father.The pace is slow and cumbersome. The jokes come fast and deliver flat. Everybody is grumpy. I hoped the movie to be better. I'm pulling for them. But Crystal is just too grumpy.The stuff about being an extra just doesn't ring true. It may seem right if you don't think about it. But if an extra keeps causing trouble, he'd be quickly kicked off the set.

My father was from NYC and my mother was raised in LA. I have seen every film I ever wanted to and this one has the most meaning. I highly recommend it to anyone who has a loving heart. It is the finest thing I have ever seen on the screen.

Billy Crystal co-wrote, co-produced and stars in this extremely safe and comfy comedy-drama about fathers and sons, adult irresponsibility and growing old. Billy plays a heart surgeon who has a heart attack (ha ha) which causes him to seek out his estranged father (Alan King), a movie-extra who fancies himself a big star. The screenplay is sub-Neil Simon--with one-liners galore--while Henry Winkler delivers a flat, inexpressive direction (stuck in sitcom mode). Crystal and King try their best, but King is overeager and frequently over-the-top. JoBeth Williams has another one of her thankless roles, but manages to bring her innate, down-home class to the proverbial girlfriend character. It's a comedy, I guess, but one that blinks back the tears...shamefully. ** from ****

While the story has been told before and perhaps better,(notably Jack Lemmon in "Dad" ) this story of a father and son coming to terms with their relationship after the father learns he is terminal, is worth a look.Alan King gives a wonderful performance in the role of the father. His scene in the casting director's office near the end of the film is worth the video rental itself. Perhaps a little overdone, but it summed up his life and career. Billy Crystal ostensibly plays the straight man, something he rarely if ever has done.