This is one of the best and most honest films I’ve seen on how infidelity affects the cheated on. Erica (Jill Clayburgh, SILVER STREAK) and Martin (Michael Murphy, SALVADOR) seem to have a fairly stable marriage until one day he drops the news that he is having an affair with a younger woman. Erica is shocked and goes through a range of emotions trying to deal with the situation.
At first she leans on her friends – Sue (Patricia Quinn, CLEAN AND SOBER), Elaine (Kelly Bishop, DIRTY DANCING) and Jeannette (Linda Miller, TURNER & HOOCH). Each of them has their own problems, some worse off than Erica. The film also deals with how the breakup affects Erica and Martin’s daughter Patti (Lisa Lucas, HEART AND SOULS). Eventually, Erica starts seeing a psychiatrist named Tanya (Penelope Russianoff, real psychiatrist in only film performance), who tells her the things she already knows, but needs to hear from the outside party.
The main crux of the film is the honest journey that Erica goes through as she builds her confidence back up and attempts dating. First she experiments with a self-indulgent Village artist named Charlie (Cliff Gorman, ALL THAT JAZZ). Then she meets a painter named Saul (Alan Bates, GOSFORD PARK), whom she is reluctant to believe is as good as he appears to be. I loved how the film deals with their relationship without sentimentality or fantasy.
Clayburgh is a revelation, deserving her first Oscar nomination for the performance. Her droll touch to the material is witty and engaging. Effortlessly, she drives home the emotion of what it must be like to have your life change directions completely in a single moment due to the betrayal of someone you trusted so deeply, and just how difficult it is to heal from the shock. Her performance here makes one marvel at why she did not becoming one of the marquee actress of her generation. Murphy plays her husband as a man so into himself that he seems shocked that Erica wouldn't want to comfort him over how torn up he is about his affair. Additionally, Gorman is quite good as the epitome of the egocentric artist.
I’ve seen a couple of director/actor Paul Mazursky’s films (HARRY AND TONTO, BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE) and this is by far his best. Not nominated for direction, which can be a bit overly romantic at the end, he well deserved his Academy Award nod for his screenplay. This is an actor's film where a writer/director gives his performers wonderful material and then relies on them to carry the film. Clayburgh is certainly up for the task.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
