Although I loathe Dreyfus, Marsha Mason doesn’t work for me, and Quinn Cummings was an annoying child actor with the Cindy Brady lisp, I think they worked well together. The movie is pretty good, and I don’t automatically reach for the remote, which, for a Dreyfus movie, is a miracle.
One line I remember (sort of) that I liked was when Dreyfus had a girl in his room to rehearse Henry III
“If I choose to attempt to have carnal knowledge of that gorgeous bod that’ll be her option, my problem and none of your business!”
Love that one.
One thing I have noticed over the years is the fading of Neil Simon’s work in film. His plays probably still hold up well performed on stage, but many of the plays turned to movies sort of wear on me. Someone mentioned this was NOT a play first, which surprised me. But it could have been easily. Simon’s works all have a similar beat or cadence.