Am I The Only One Who Liked This Movie?

The quote is actually:
"There is a world beyond the 5/7 inches of your/my penis!", because Baldwin gives himself a few inches.

I was entertained when I saw it. Then HBO began to show it all the time, and I watch it whenever its on; mostly for the above aforementioned reasons. Allison Eastwood and Suzanne Cryer are great, but I should point out that Cryer had a body double (a real pregnant woman was obviously used as a body double in the "poist-coitus/post-crying" scene), but she also showed her chest a couple times during that scene--it's strange, to say the least. If you examine it closely, you'll see what I mean--it's poorly edited.

In that regard, it's a winner for both sexes in the audience. Something for everyone, and its funny in places. The only people who will be disappointed are Claudia Schiffer fans, because no matter how Robert Downey, Jr. tries to pull down her bra, her nipples fight it. I've heard of pasties, but in this case it seems like a tender area was treated with spirit gum. No loss for me, Schiffer's acting in this film is off-putting, and any guy watching the movie would choose to shack up with A. Eastwood or S. Cryer's characters instead within the first 20 minutes.

It wasn't until I read Roger Ebert's review of it in the Sun-Times that I saw why it was considered a "lousy" movie. He gave it a low rating--A HALF A STAR, as low as it gets before the reviewer walks out and it gets no rating--and he gives legitmate reasons in his scathing review. For example, he points out how Jane (Suzanne Cryer, a.k.a. the "pregnant chick") was overacting, and went everywhere talking about her baby and clutching her fake belly like she was trying to prevent the creature from 'Alien' from bursting out of her chest. When the movie came out, Cryer was not yet a mother, but since then she has had a child... maybe if the film were shot again today, she'd have played the part differently.

And then there is the mention of Baldwin's obsession with Schiffer's nipples, which he greatly exaggerates in the movie. Twentysomethings run from a male character's exposed member like teenagers, and even the discussing of intercourse reminds him of how pre-teens talk and act. He's not far off.

Someone compared this film to 'American Pie'. I actually like this movie better than that film ('AP' was a modern day rehash of 'Porky's'), but given that these adult characters act like junior high-school students, I would instead compare it more to 'The Idiots'. That's kind of how it plays out... a simple, American adaptation of that foreign film. See it and 'American Pie' and tell me which of the two films 'Friends & Lovers' resembles more closely.

Okay, so it's not a great movie. But I can't help but enjoy it, for whatever it is worth.