Watched in honor of Bob Einstein, the comedic actor who just passed away - he appears in a memorable scene with his brother Albert (who changed his last name to Brooks for obvious reasons!) Brooks co-wrote the film, and stars as a paranoid man who breaks up with his girlfriend... only to decide to get back together with her the following day. While his actions at times are a little stalkerish, watching this movie made me realize how much I miss these mid-budget comedies - with their simple focus on good writing and interesting characters.

Wanted to re-watch this wonderful film. Hasn't lost any of its charm. Great film. Bought it in HD on iTunes... although i hear the Indicator Blu-ray has great extras.

Noticed that Frederick Elmes did camera operation. You can tell there is a master behind the camera moves... they are tight and precise.

Perfect.

Mr. Trash Can

Some of the best, most purely human comedy every put on film, but Brooks captures the scattered thinking and pathetic helplessness of his character with such merciless exactitude that it eventually mutates into a horror movie about a dysfunctional couple. By the time we get to the cabin, there are no laughs, only discomfort and fear about what he might do next, so much so that the text epilogue (which has to rank as the single best use of that technique in any movie) is funny not just because it's funny but also because it's a welcome relief from the claustrophobia of this relationship.

Modern Romance feels fresh for a movie that's pushing 40. Maybe it's its self-awareness. Maybe it's all of the things it feels like it has influenced. I see Swingers in here and Albert Brooks was pretty much proto-Larry David... plenty hints of Modern Romance in modern comedy.

It's refreshing to watch something demonstrably smaller and more relatable than what we get currently. Even legends of comedy like Albert Brooks and brother Bob Einstein (RIP, Super Dave!) feel relatable under these circumstances. I dug it.

Overthinking things to where they lose all meaning. And seeing Albert Brooks' body hair makes everything mean nothing.

I'd already had an appreciation for Albert Brooks before seeing Modern Romance, but he just nails it here. Clingy, indecisive and paranoid to the max, he proceeds to put Kathryn Harrold through hell in a love story fit for sociopaths.

The supporting cast here is fantastic, but this showcases Brooks as an excellent comedy writer.

maybe that's movie love. maybe you've seen that. maybe you've worked on so many of your pictures that that's what you think it is.

wild

Albert Brooks is one of the great underrated artists of the twentieth century.

It's hard to go all in with this movie because Brooks paints his character in such an obsessively clingy, downright toxic way that wears on you by the end BUT MAN there is some great stuff in this nonetheless. I could've watched an entire 90 minutes of him on qualudes, saying "I love you" to everyone and every-THING he owns like some doped up Marie Kondo.

There are so many movies where I think about what 'mistakes' the filmmakers made to keep it from being a good movie. This is a movie where I Just can think about the countless right descisions they made to let it be such a good movie.

One of the things I like most in Modern Romance is the relaxed pace in jokes and funny ideas. Every created laugh has enough space to breathe and live...

A good movie start for 2019.

Watching Albert Brooks direct himself suffering through a troubled relationship isn't the worst way to spend 90 minutes, but it's a shame there's not a better movie around this idea.

Brooks has made some very good movies, like Lost in America and Defending Your Life. But I'm not sure what compelled him to make this one. Very little happens, and there doesn't seem to be much of a point to any of it.

Actually, there's a few chuckles here and there, like his attempt at taking up running, and a date ruined by a Michael Jackson song. The scenes about his character's life as a film editor are also amusing. But I kept waiting for something meaningful, or at least very funny, to click into place.

Ultimately, it never does.