Synopsis
... What Happens When You See Them Again?
When her marriage falls apart, a psychiatrist seeks out those of her former boyfriends who left the biggest impact on her life, mostly in a bad way.
1979 Directed by Joan Tewkesbury
When her marriage falls apart, a psychiatrist seeks out those of her former boyfriends who left the biggest impact on her life, mostly in a bad way.
Talia Shire Richard Jordan John Belushi Keith Carradine John Houseman Buck Henry Bethel Leslie Joan Hotchkis William Bassett Gerrit Graham Nina Jordan Barry Michlin Jon Cutler Jim Raymond Mary McCusker Brenda King P.J. Soles Dominique Pinassi Murphy Dunne Jim Keltner Roy Marinell Paul Flaherty Thomas McGowan
Meine alten Freunde, Diane, 老男友们
A weird lady sets out to bone all her ex boyfriends in the name of self discovery lol. Lots of 70s style, soft lens, and a Belushi.
"Is your present life so insufficient, Miss Cruise, that you have to make love to a dead boy's memory?"
Despite its justifiably middling reputation, there was never any question about making time for Old Boyfriends, if only because of the involvement of director Joan Tewkesbury—the credited screenwriter of my favorite film (Nashville) and its woefully underrated Altman predecessor (Thieves Like Us). Co-scripted by brothers Paul and Leonard Schrader, the patchy screenplay follows tailspinning psychiatrist Dianne Cruise (Talia Shire) as she supposedly embarks on a High Fidelity-esque survey of former love interests in the name of self-discovery; in reality her quest for zero-sum validation amounts to an unconvincing, interstate revenge tour.
After driving from Los Angeles first to Colorado and then…
Prior to a screening of this at UCLA, author Maya Montañez Smukler (who has a new book, LIBERATING HOLLYWOOD, about women filmmakers in the 1970s) offered the unbelievable stat that in the entire decade only sixteen women directed a feature film. That's as stark a fact about the dearth of female filmmakers I think I've ever heard.
There are more "facts" about women filmmakers in the opening credits of OLD BOYFRIENDS, too. Joan Tewkesbury only, I dunno, wrote the single-best film of the decade (NASHVILLE) and years later would get this (lone) opportunity to direct. After OLD BOYFRIENDS flopped, she would only direct in television for the rest of her career. The script, a good one, isn't hers - it's…
dianne cruise walked (left john belushi on a hill with his dick out) so amy elliot dunne could run (frame ben affleck for murder)
Desperately in need of restoration! This is a film directed by the writer of Nashville, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Talia Shire, Keith Carradine, and John Belushi in his prime! Discussed on the podcast with Maya Montañez Smukler, who explores this film and others in her great book Liberating Hollywood, about the 16 women directors of New Hollywood. The print we saw was red-tinted in every moment, but you could see what an oddball of the era this was, and one that was thrilling to watch.
I get what Old Boyfriends is going for, like trying to discover yourself through other people is not the right way to go about anything, but all three of the stories around each boyfriend felt like their own movie but without any conclusion or consideration for implications. Her and Jeff's story was nice I guess but I found the story involving Eric to be very strange. I understand Dianne was getting revenge for Eric's coercive and cruel behavior when it came to sex (with the possibility that he raped her) but what are the implications of enacting similar behavior upon him sixteen years later in an attempt to understand yourself better? Why would being sexually aggressive to the man who…
i was wondering why, in this movie about a woman trying to learn more about herself by exploring her past, especially one directed by a woman, the central woman felt so inconsistently- and under-written, and then i discovered that paul schrader wrote the screenplay and it all clicked. and, yeah i'm no schrader expert but of his material from this time period that i've seen i've felt similarly about how the women in his scripts lack depth. i mean most of the concrete information divulged about this character is communicated through men talking about her while she's thousands of miles away.
ugh this was so disappointing because i LOVED the first 30 minutes of this film. the premise is intriguing,…
'Old Boyfriends' is a film so obviously made by screenwriters, thoughtfully created if a bit amateurly presented. The directorial debut of famed screenwriter Joan Tewkesbury ('Nashville', 'Thieves Like Us'). Written by Paul Schrader along with his brother Leonard. A car speeds down a freeway wildly, lurching suddenly into a stone wall. It's not for some time that we understand the significance of this opening scene.
Recently single psychologist and suffering an identity crisis, Dianne (Talia Shire) sets out on a journey of self-discovery through her past loves. She says it best herself, "If I could figure out why I loved them, I could find a way to love myself." She begins with her most recent relationship, working her way backwards.…
Paul and Leonard Schrader’s Mamma Mia — directed by Nashville writer Joan Tewkesbury and featuring the type of eclectic yet gifted ensemble cast you really only saw in the 70s (not unlike Altman’s films of that decade), the clearest evidence of just how underrated Talia Shire was and still is
Deeply unsettling and unstable and oh-so-ecstatically true to life. Sifting through painful love memories becomes a whirlwind through a serial-killer thriller (Ex#1: Dick Jordan), a revenge-comedy (Ex#2: John Belushi), a Best Years of Our Lives melodrama (Ex #3: sweet Keith Carradine). High peaks for all involved, especially the Shires, Belushi, and Buck Henry.
Fascinating film. Like something from an alternative universe where the New Hollywood movement wasn’t such a (white) boy’s club. Talia Shire commands the screen in a way you’ve never seen before (because not even her brother bothered to build a star vehicle around her). John Belushi is a revelation, at once endearingly vulnerable and utterly repellent. The gender politics feel au courant because we haven’t made all that much progress in 40 years and that’s almost as depressing as the fact that Joan Tewkesbury never directed another feature after this one. Maybe she will again. This isn’t a perfect film. The original script by Paul and Leonard Schrader was largely rewritten by Tewkesbury but the Schraderian element is there (a Paul Schrader heroine who journals!) and pulls against the spin Tewkesbury puts on the story. God bless Tewkesbury. I’ll take her flawed debut over most Academy Award winners’ best work any day.