California Suite (1978) 6.2
Misadventures of four groups of guests at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Director:Herbert RossWriter:Neil Simon (screenplay) |
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California Suite (1978) 6.2
Misadventures of four groups of guests at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Director:Herbert RossWriter:Neil Simon (screenplay) |
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Jane Fonda | ... | ||
| Alan Alda | ... | ||
| Maggie Smith | ... | ||
| Michael Caine | ... | ||
| Walter Matthau | ... | ||
| Elaine May | ... | ||
| Herb Edelman | ... |
Harry Michaels
(as Herbert Edelman)
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| Denise Galik | ... | ||
| Richard Pryor | ... | ||
| Bill Cosby | ... | ||
| Gloria Gifford | ... | ||
| Sheila Frazier | ... | ||
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David Sheehan | ... | |
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Michael Boyle | ... | |
| Len Lawson | ... | ||
4 totally different and seperated stories of guests in a hotel. Maggie Smith and Michael Caine came from England to attend the Oscars; Jane Fonda came from New York, Alan Alda is her ex who lives in California; in the slapsticky part Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor and their wives come to the hotel to relax and play tennis and find there is only one room vacant; in the fourth segment Walter Matthau has come a day before his wife for his nephew's Bar Mitzvah, his brother: sends a prostitute to his room. Written by Jonathan (jrd@netvision.net.il)
An ensemble cast that dreams are made of is present in this film, and all deliver quite well, even Walter Matthau who goes a bit over-the-top. Smith deservedly won an Oscar for her role as a screen actress loses her first Oscar nomination in a very long career. As her husband, Caine is also good, but the next two best performances come from Fonda and Alda as a bickering divorced couple. Those four performers, however, only cover two out of four tales in this film, and the other two are not as well as acted and neither are they filled with the same quality of witty dialogue. It is bit weird to watch the overall film, as it becomes fragmented by the transitions between each of the stories, and towards the end the lesser interesting tales dominate. With just the Fonda/Alda and Smith/Caine stories, this is excellent, very well written stuff. With all four put together, it is still quite interesting stuff, but nothing too great.