Irreconcilable Differences

Buy This Item Irreconcilable Differences by Lions Gate/Vestron  Available from Amazon  $29.98  on 9-23-2008     There's a scene in this film that viewers who know anything about Drew Barrymore's personal history will almost certainly find disturbing. Her nine-year old character Casey Brodsky is at a party given by her non-custodial film-director dad, and she is plainly unhappy. None of the self-obsessed adults pay any attention to the child, and when a waiter whizzes by her with a tray of drinks, she grabs a glass of wine and slugs it down. Barrymore, of course, developed drug and drink habits before even hitting adolescence, we know now, and one hates to think that any of the roles she played as a child might have given her ideas. <br /> <br />But the reality is, of course, that Drew's milieu was similar enough to Casey's in the film that own her pre-adolescent descent into substance abuse might have been almost impossible to avoid anyway, regardless of the roles she might have played. Ultimately, Casey's own story has a qualified happy ending--as do those of her feuding parents--and there's reason to hope that her character's life will improve. Nevertheless, the scene resonates, perhaps moreso than any other in the entire film. <br /> <br />There's a certain honesty in this film's representation of a Hollywood childhood--and of Hollywood life in general. Hollywood is seen as a corrupting influence on basically good, intelligent--and talented--people who should be able to see the damage they do themselves and their child. In flashback, we see how the parents meet (and they do meet, as they say in Tinseltown, "cute," but also very innocent and rough around the edges). Dad (Ryan O'Neal) is a young(ish) film scholar who yearns to break into directing--somehow. For now, he's accepted a post at a film school. Shelley Long is the mom, but prior to that she was an educated but somewhat aimless young woman who, until our young director type, swept her off her feet was on her way to marry someone else ( a military man, who, we are led to believe, would almost certainly have made her even more miserable that the director ultimately will. <br /> <br />Shelley Long is Lucy Van Patten Brodsky in this film, but she is essentially in Diane mode (maybe just a bit sweeter natured). Her character is vaguely "creative," but doesn't really blossom until she gets a chance to co-author her husband's scripts. She doesn't get the credit she deserves, of course, and that leads to some resentment when those scripts turn into highly successful film properties. O'Neal's Albert Brodsky gets all the glory, and the apparent adoration of a young protegee (a very funny, and very GOOD Sharon Stone). The marriage hits the rocks, predictably enough, and a series of career ups and downs for the warring parents is set into motion. (Shelley goes from being an economically stressed single mom to an overnight literary sensation--just as Ryan hits bottom by going along with his consorts ludicrous demands to make a musical out of GONE WITH THE WIND, a move which is actually HIS HEAVEN'S GATE. <br /> <br />So what's a nine-year old to do but seek a "divorce" from BOTH her parents. Her dream is to live with Maria, the Hispanic maid who first worked for them as a couple, them for him when he was flush, and then for HER when the tide turned. But through it all, Maria was the one person who was there for the little girl. Sound hokey enough? Well, it is--and it isn't. <br /> <br />The storyline is so preposterous that I avoided this film for over 20 years. Yes, sometimes minors in their "late-ish" teens can become legally emancipated, but younger children have no such recourse, even in Hollywood. So you gotta suspend a heck of a lot of disbelief. But if you can manage to do that, there is much in the film that makes it worth watching. The inside showbiz humor is pretty sharp. The film whiz kid who rises and falls in Hollywood has its real life analogs, of course, and Brodsky is obviously patterned Bogdanovich, whose own talent was undercut by vanity (projects). <br /> <br />The serious message behind all the spoofing is that contemporary LIFE (not just show biz values) takes a toll on us all, despite our best intentions and good will toward man, woman and child. In a better world, all of these differences would by no means be "irreconcilable." In a simpler world--like that of the Mexican maid--they might be more readily dealt with, or even successfully ignored in the daily struggle to survive. <br /> <br />IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES is something of a morality play for (post)modern times. It doesn't succeed wholly, but it works well enough to engage our sympathies and our minds. It's "bittersweet" ending is really the only one possible, but in life, like in the movies, there is hope. And, hey, Drew Barrymore seems to have turned out pretty darn well for all of that. <br /> Reader Reviews This movie is really good. It has love, true love, heartbreak and all the elements of a modern day romance and drama. The actors are perfect for their roles and people who didn't like this movie probably don't appreciate many good films.

Irreconcilable Differences Available from Amazon Price: $29.98 Updated on 9-23-2008.

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