Double Feature

Starting Over

Burt Reynolds plays Phil Potter, a low-key, contented magazine writer who tries to put his life back together after his wife (Candice Bergen) opts for independence as a singer-songwriter. Jill Clayburgh, a wacky nursery school teacher, tries to help him surmount the emotional hurdles, but it’s rough going in this delightful contemporary tale; he’s still hung up on his ex-wife. Starting Over is sprinkled with comedy, from Bergen’s cacophonous singing to Reynolds’ near-breakdown in Bloomingdale’s. Both Clayburgh and Bergen received Academy Award. nominations. (Paramount)

Semi-Tough

Known for his sports movies that aren’t really about sports, Michael Ritchie delivers another soulful classic with Semi-Tough. Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson are two hotshot Miami football players living in a ménage e trois with the owner’s daughter (Jill Clayburgh). But when deep feelings develop between two of them, their whole arrangement, and the team’s playoff aspirations, are put in jeopardy. When the big game isn’t the Super Bowl, but the game of life, either you get it or you don’t. Featuring Robert Preston as the eccentric owner who keeps recommending new age treatment and jargon to the jaded star players.

“Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson and Jill Clayburgh are all excellent” – Variety

“Well supplied with both raunchy humor and star appeal, particularly in the person of Burt Reynolds, the film seems certain to become a crowd-pleaser.” – Gary Arnold, Washington Post

“A delightful, gentle satire on the American ideal of winning, which also takes broad but often hilarious swipes at fashionable health fads.” – Geoff Andrew, Time Out