{"id":2397,"date":"2007-02-28T18:10:53","date_gmt":"2007-03-01T01:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2397"},"modified":"2021-07-18T22:43:25","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T05:43:25","slug":"modern-romance-1981","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2397","title":{"rendered":"Modern Romance (1981)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;One, two, three! And-I-don&#8217;t-even-miss-her, two, three!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Poster-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-22501\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Poster-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Poster.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAfter breaking up with his beautiful girlfriend Mary (Kathryn Harrold) for the umpteenth time, self-absorbed Hollywood editor Robert Cole (Albert Brooks) wallows in self-pity before trying to woo Mary back.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Albert Brooks Films<\/li>\n<li>Dating<\/li>\n<li>George Kennedy Films<\/li>\n<li>Los Angeles<\/li>\n<li>Romantic Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Winning Him\/Her Back<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nCritical opinions seem squarely divided on this early romantic comedy by Albert Brooks, which Peary inexplicably labels as &#8220;often brilliant&#8221; and &#8220;much underrated&#8221;. One&#8217;s ability to enjoy <em>Modern Romance<\/em> rests on how easily you can relate to the lead character &#8212; Peary finds him &#8220;sympathetic yet obnoxious&#8221;, but I think he is, quite simply, insufferable. Indeed, it&#8217;s impossible to have any sympathy for someone as &#8220;completely oblivious to his awful traits&#8221; as Robert is; one can&#8217;t help comparing him with Woody Allen, but at least Allen&#8217;s characters always exhibited a healthy dose of neurotic self-deprecation.  <\/p>\n<p>Kathryn Harrold does a fine job as Robert&#8217;s girlfriend, but it&#8217;s difficult to enjoy her performance simply because we can&#8217;t figure out why she&#8217;d want to be with this loser in the first place &#8212; let alone after the way we see him treating her again and again. The only mildly enjoyable scenes focus on Robert&#8217;s work as a film editor for real-life director James L. Brooks &#8212; yet these have nothing to do with the primary story, and could easily be from a different movie entirely. Read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1986roma.html\">DVD Savant&#8217;s review<\/a> instead of Peary&#8217;s to get a much better indication of what you&#8217;re likely in store for with this clunker. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bruno Kirby as Robert&#8217;s long-suffering friend and colleague<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Kirby.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Kirby.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-66749\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Kirby.jpg 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Kirby-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Kirby-128x72.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Kirby-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Kirby-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>A clever inside look at the politics of filmmaking and editing<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Editing.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Editing.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-66747\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Editing.jpg 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Editing-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Editing-128x72.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Editing-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Editing-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Robert being pressured into buying far too much running gear<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Buying.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Buying.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-66750\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Buying.jpg 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Buying-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Buying-128x72.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Buying-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Buying-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>\nA few mildly amusing moments between Robert and Mary &#8212; such as when Robert eyes Mary&#8217;s revealing knit dress with jealous disapproval, and tells her it makes her nipples look like eyeballs<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Eyeballs.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Eyeballs.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-66748\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Eyeballs.jpg 853w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Eyeballs-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Eyeballs-128x72.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Eyeballs-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/Modern-Romance-Eyeballs-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo. While some would argue this is an essential film in Brooks&#8217;s early oeuvre, I can&#8217;t in good conscience recommend it as must-see viewing for anyone but fans of Brooks.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0082764\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1986roma.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/73373.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;One, two, three! And-I-don&#8217;t-even-miss-her, two, three!&#8221; Synopsis: After breaking up with his beautiful girlfriend Mary (Kathryn Harrold) for the umpteenth time, self-absorbed Hollywood editor Robert Cole (Albert Brooks) wallows in self-pity before trying to woo Mary back. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Albert Brooks Films Dating George Kennedy Films Los Angeles Romantic Comedy Winning Him\/Her Back Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: Critical opinions seem squarely divided on this early romantic comedy by Albert Brooks, which Peary inexplicably labels as &#8220;often brilliant&#8221;&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2397\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2397"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74106,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2397\/revisions\/74106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}