Best Friends (1982 film)

Best Friends
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Norman Jewison
Produced by Norman Jewison
Patrick Palmer
Written by Valerie Curtin
Barry Levinson
Starring
Music by Michel Legrand
Cinematography Jordan Cronenweth
Edited by Don Zimmerman
Production
company
Timberlane Productions
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • December 17, 1982 (1982-12-17)
Running time
 108 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $15 million[1]
Box office $36,821,203

Best Friends is a 1982 American romantic comedy film starring Burt Reynolds and Goldie Hawn. It is loosely based on the true story of the relationship between its writers, Barry Levinson and Valerie Curtin. The film is directed by Norman Jewison and is a drama as well as a romantic comedy.

Plot

Richard Babson and Paula McCullen are a couple of Hollywood screenwriters who have lived and worked together for a number of years. Richard would like to get married, but Paula does not feel the need.

Having just written a film script for producer Larry Weissman, the couple decides to get married without letting anyone else know. Paula can tell it is important to Richard, so she reluctantly agrees.

They are wed in a downtown Los Angeles marriage bureau by a man named Jorge Medina in barely understandable English. For a honeymoon trip, they travel cross-country by train to inform their parents back East about what they have just done.

The first stop is Buffalo, New York, where they are met in a winter snowstorm by Paula's parents. Eleanor and Tim McCullen are old-fashioned, so Paula informs Richard that they will need to sleep in separate beds. Richard isn't happy about being treated like a child, or about the frigid climate and the constantly open window.

From there they go to Virginia to visit Richard's parents, who reside in a giant high-rise condominium. No window is ever opened there, and Paula, feeling increasing panic attacks, is in dire need of some fresh air. She also accidentally overdoses on Valium and goes face-first into a salad at lunch.

The Babsons excitedly believe that Paula and Richard are engaged but devastated to learn that they are already married. They throw a party at a restaurant, where Paula is upset by the comments of guests.

She and Richard are barely on speaking terms when Larry Weissman shows up, desperate for pages of a script rewrite. Paula insists that they return home to California immediately, but once there, their personal and professional relationship has soured.

Larry locks them in a room, where the writers bicker and get no work done. Paula again demands fresh air until Richard breaks a window. When they finally talk it through, they are in agreement that getting married might not have been the best idea. They finish the rewrite and then walk off into the sunset, which turns out to be a Hollywood prop.

Cast

Production

Barry Levinson and Valerie Curtin wrote the screenplay based on their own relationship. They had made And Justice for All (1979) with Norman Jewison and showed him a copy of the script. Jewison felt the draft had problems but was persuaded to make it by Goldie Hawn who read the script and was enthusiastic.[2]

"I had been impressed with her talent ever since Sugarland Express," said Jewison. "I thought she was one of the most honest performers, so I said, 'If you'll do it, I'll do it'."[2]

Hawn later said her part was "probably my most mature role" to date.[3]

They decided together on Burt Reynolds as co star. "My instinct was that we should have star chemistry, like Cary Grant and Carole Lombard, like I had on The Thomas Crown Affair, with Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway." [2]

There was six weeks of filming in New York State, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., then the unit shifted to Los Angeles.

Jewison said he "took my time" with the film,"I made it very carefully, indeed... I had a wonderful time making the film and I haven't seen such good chemistry between leading players since I made The Thomas Crown Affair."[1]

Songs

The film's theme song, "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?", was composed by Michel Legrand with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. In the film, the song (performed by Patti Austin and James Ingram) is first heard as Richard and Paula return to Los Angeles after their honeymoon and then subsequently heard during the closing credits. How Do You Keep the Music Playing? was nominated for an Academy Award and has enjoyed a life of its own beyond the film, becoming a popular standard and recorded by such luminaries as Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion and Shirley Bassey. Another song by the same songwriters and performers, "Think About Love," is played during a montage of the train journey.

Awards

Aside from the song's Oscar nomination, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress Comedy or Musical went to Goldie Hawn.

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

References

  1. 1 2 JEWISON'S JOURNEY TO INNER SPACE Mann, Roderick. Los Angeles Times 2 Dec 1982: j1.
  2. 1 2 3 A movie midwife's moments of terror Scott, Jay. The Globe and Mail24 Dec 1982: E.1.
  3. ↑ Goldie Gets Serious Thomson, David. Film Comment; New York Vol. 18, Iss. 6, (Nov/Dec 1982): 49-55,80.
  4. ↑ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-07-30.
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