Never Again

We had a good time watching this two star rated romantic comedy. Its a very bawdy and somewhat outrageous 50+ love story about two mature people who have learned to live alone and accepted it well, almost. It is appropriately rated R for sexual content and a lot of four-letter adjectives and expletives. And much of the routine dialogue has a sarcastic New York, in-your-face edge to it.

The film begins with a problematic scene that I had to replay in order to understand. But the rest of the story moves nicely through the development of the two characters, their meeting and their relationship. What was unexpected in this film was the comedy. There are some scenes that are priceless, but be ready for bawdy.

Jill Clayburgh plays Grace, who was divorced and lived the life of single mom for 15 years. I saw her in An Unmarried Woman (1978) for which she received an Academy Award nomination and a Cannes Film Festival Best Actress award. In addition to stage work, Clayburgh has performed in 50 roles over the last 30 years for TV and film. She delivers the comedy in this film using what I would call a Lily Tomlin style.

Jeffrey Tambor plays Christopher, the other half of the couple and a jazz pianist who is an exterminator in his day job. Tambor has performed more than 75 roles over the last 24 years. Both Clayburgh and Tambor provide realistic and believable characters for this offbeat comedy.

Bill Duke plays Earl, Christophers best friend and the stringed bass player in their jazz combo. Duke is primarily a TV series director, but he has also performed as an actor in 30 roles since 1976. Watch his facial expressions theyre great!

Reviewed November 7, 2003