MovieChat Forums > Starting Over (1979) Discussion > Burt Reynolds is so cool!

Burt Reynolds is so cool!


I've never been THAT much of a fan. but he gives such a superb, understated performance in this. The Ben Stillers of today should study this movie for a lesson in less-is-more.

reply

You are far more open minded than the critics - who refused to see what a wonderful performance Burt Reynolds gives - so killed the movie with sarcastic comments about him because of their inability to see past Reynolds as an Action Hero. But although he has been in many a average action movies he has also been fantastic in films like 'Diliverence', 'Hustle' and 'Boogie Nights'.

reply

[deleted]

This was delicately shaded performance, which up to this point, was the finest of his career and I remember being genuinely shocked when Clayburgh and Bergen both received Oscar nomination and Reynolds was overlooked. Then to add insult to injury, Burt's girlfriend at the tiem, Sally Field, won her first Oscar the same year. That couldn't have been easy for him.

reply

Actually this movie was generally well reviewed and did pretty well commercially at the time, so I'm not sure what the earlier poster was talking about in terms of it being "killed" by sarcastic commentators who could only see Reynolds as a macho action hero. Though it is probably true that on some level he wasn't taken seriously enough as an actor.

On the other hand, I can't remember the other Best Actor nominees that year, but throughout the 70s there was a surfeit of stellar male lead roles and a real paucity of good female ones. So it's no wonder Clayburgh and Bergen got nominated while Reynolds didn't--they were good, but they also had much less competition.

It's ironic that Clayburgh got nominated for this, a decent turn in an easy "quirky girl" role, rather than her spectacular stretch in a very difficult role in Bertolucci's unpopular but pretty brilliant "Luna" the same year.

reply

About Bertolucci's Luna.....I totally agree that Ms. Clayburgh should have been nominated for Best Actress. The performance is not an easy one to love but nevertheless, it was a tour-de-force in acting. The more dificult passages in the performance she delivers with aplomb and genuine emotion. Ms. Clayburgh is the one that you think of long after the film is over.

reply

I was going to say, there are so many fewer roles for women than men that female costars getting nominated over male for comparable roles is pretty common. Look at Shakespeare in Love--Joseph Fiennes did a fantastic job in that but no nom. And yep, the '70s were especially notorious for that--Look at CARRIE, for God's sake, an enjoyable teen horror flick that is in no way art gets not one but two female nominations?! Burt Reynolds should've been happy he was able to work so easily--he was certainly talented but so were a lot of women who couldn't work because roles were simply not being written for them.

reply

I still think he deserved a nomination. If I knew the other nominees I could judge better whether he should have won. My opinion is this is one of his best performances and people who listen to critics are sheep.

Critics are a nonsensical idea anyway. "If you pay me I'll tell you what movies are good and bad." Maybe we should eat the same food as the critic and wear the same clothes, they must know what is best because people listen to them (rolls eyes).

If everyone's tastes were the same we would only need one resturant chain. Variety is the spice of life.

RIP Jill AKA Marilyn.






Do you understand the words that I am saying to you?

reply

If I knew the other nominees I could judge better whether he should have won.


The Best Actor nominees for 1979 were:

-Dustin Hoffman, Kramer vs. Kramer **WINNER**
-Jack Lemmon, The China Syndrome
-Al Pacino, ... And Justice for All!
-Rob Scheider, All That Jazz
-Peter Sellers, Being There

.

reply

Burt was confident yet vulnerable in this. How he kept from laughing during those scenes with Bergen was award worthy in of itself.

reply

Just didn't see it - Burt came across as too wooden; as if he were saying to us, "look, I can play a serious, sensitive guy. All I have to do is underplay the role to the point where the character appears only semi-conscious."

The whole flick came across as very lethargic - no one brought much energy to their role. And Jill's hair! Yikes.

reply

I thought he was far from wooden. The energy was in the way the characters responded to each other and to life circumstances. That's what sets this movie apart, even for back then. His performance in particular had a lot of subtlety and he gave many unexpected line readings that I really enjoyed. Just one example, he was masterful in the scene near the beginning when he was on the pay phone with Candice Bergen right after they split and she told him that her song was going to be recorded. You could see every thought that crossed his mind during that conversation. In the beginning when she started crying he was starting to get all hopeful and lovey-dovey thinking she needed him and he could now step in and be her protector again . . and then when she gave him the news about the record you could see the disappointment kind of seep into his face and body as it gradually dawned on him that he read her wrong, and then he tried to make himself into a "bigger" person by trying to be happy for her, but you could see how conflicted he really was. Those are a lot of nuances to pack into a scene where the other person did most of the talking.

reply

Perfectly put, Keely! He was great in this role.

reply

I'm watching it right now for the first in many years, and yes Reynolds does a very good job. A nomination would have certainly been fair, but I don't think he would have won. By 1979 Dustin Hoffman was 12 years due for a first.

- -
Truth is a hard master, and costly to serve, but it simplifies every problem.

reply

The film has a trio of great performances. Reynolds, Clayburgh and Bergen are all superb and they play off each other very well.

I thought Burt did an excellent job of capturing his character's predicament, loving his ex-wife and hoping she would come back to him, while trying to bide the time with Clayburgh's character, taking her for granted until he realizes what he had before is not healthy for him.

Definitely worthy of a nomination.

reply

This is my favorite Burt Reynolds film. He is quite good in it and his co-stars are terrific.

reply

[deleted]