An Exercise In Nonsense

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Man, Albert Brooks is a trip in this movie. He's like the template for George Costanza, pushing his usual neurotic persona to the point of comically unlikable. It's not enough that he has to dog his ex until they get back together, but when she actually relents, he goes into paranoia overload. He's that kind of boyfriend who just won't leave well enough alone. It's almost painful but this is right in the man's wheelhouse, so he makes it funny. And you've gotta feel bad for Kathryn Harrold for putting up with all of this. Also of note here is a put-upon Bruno Kirby and "Super Dave" Osborn as a hustling sporting goods salesman.As awful as Brooks' character is, the movie remains compulsively watchable. 8/10

To me, placing the phrase "great work" with the name "Albert Brooks," when citing one of his films, is redundant. I can say I liked this film a bit more than "Lost in America," which I liked slightly more than "The Muse," which I would place slightly ahead of "Defending Your Life," but starting with a rating of 100 out of 100 - I'd have to go to about 8 decimal places to differentiate among them. If Woody Allen is the "Stephen Hawking" of making movies with neuroses as a main theme, and usually portrayed by characters he plays as well as directs, then Albert Brooks is the "Albert Einstein" of the same. (I actually thought of this comparison before recalling that, ironically, Mr. Brooks birth name is the same as that of the renowned scientist.) Wathching Brooks' Robert Cole character cope with one neurotic experience after another in this film, and his interaction with an outstanding supporting cast, provides 93 minutes of non-stop entertainment in a manner available in few other films (or entertainment offerings in any other media).

Although I like Albert Brooks,(Robert Cole),"The Muse",'99, and his great acting skills. Albert seems to have over acted his role as a frustrated film editor or he needed to visit a doctor for new brain cells. He starts out the film having dinner with Kathryn Harrold(Mary Harvard), "MacGruder & Loud",'85 TV Series, and a big argument starts out between the two of them, all because Robert thinks they should break up their relationship. It seems they have nothing in common but SEX. However, Robert and Kathryn make up and Kathryn gives a quick nude performance in bed. The director wanted this nude scene in order to keep the audiences from getting bored! Kathryn Harrold helped put some sort of spark in the film and of course Albert Brooks did a great job of making Robert Cole the nuttiest person in the world! I got a headache just listening to Robert Cole complain on and on to his co-worker, another film splicer!!!

Brooks' astute observation on men's foibles when obsessed, love~wise, aims high... and hits every mark.His character's on~again, off~again boyfriend/girlfriend relationship with coke~sniffing Kathryn Harrold [in what is clearly her best performance in what turned out to be a quickly~disintegrating short career] is the basis for the film.And it's a winner, for most male romantics I'd presume.Or at least for me: I've done most of the sneaky things Brooks' character does at one time or another, while desperately in love.As with most of Brooks' works, this isn't laughing out loud funny: it's wry, subtle and makes some great statements on man's utter base incapability of understanding women.PS: In case you didn't know, Brooks' real name is Albert Einstein... his brother Dave also became a big star in the late '80s: as pseudo~daredevil "Super Dave Osborne"...