Irreconcilable Differences (1984)

Alternating between the past and the present, a precocious little girl sues her selfish, career-driven parents for emancipation, surprising them both.

Director:

Charles Shyer

Writers:

Nancy Meyers, Charles Shyer

Stars:

Ryan O'Neal, Shelley Long, Drew Barrymore

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ryan O'Neal	...	Albert Brodsky
Shelley Long	...	Lucy Van Patten Brodsky
Drew Barrymore	...	Casey Brodsky
Sam Wanamaker	...	David Kessler
Allen Garfield	...	Phil Hanner
Sharon Stone	...	Blake Chandler (aka Amanda)
Kim Marriner	...	Reporter
Wendy Gordon	...	Reporter
Ken Gale	...	Reporter
Deborah Cody	...	Reporter
Steven K. Miller	...	Reporter
Annie Meyers-Shyer	...	Little Girl in Crowd
Lauren Hartman	...	Woman on the Street
David Paymer	...	Alan Sluiser
Larry Marko	...	Court Clerk

Storyline

Albert and Lucy fall in love, get married, and have a daughter Casey. Everything is wonderful, till success in business distract Albert and Lucy from each other and Casey. They soon divorce and start fighting so Casey beats sues to divorce her parents, to go live with the maid who has been taking care of her. Themedia has a field day, which is only making things worse.

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Plot Keywords:

parent | divorce | maid | love | voice over narration | 

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Taglines:

It took a divorce to bring them all together.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 September 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Diferencias irreconciliables

Box Office

Gross:

$12,400,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hemdale Film, Lantana, Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At fifteen years old, Drew Barrymore legally emancipated herself from her parents. In 2009, she told 60 Minutes that she had first learned such a thing was possible from starring in this movie six years earlier.

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Quotes

Lucy Van Patten Brodsky: Do you have kids?
Woman at Party: Yeah, but I'm not into parenting right now.

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Connections

Features Father Knows Best (1954)

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Soundtracks

"You And Me (We Wanted It All)"
Written by Carole Bayer Sager & Peter Allen
Performed by Frank Sinatra
Courtesy of Reprise Records

User Reviews

Good comedy/melodrama with a unique twist; the self-parody of the movie industry is often ingenious.

Drew pretty much steals the show as the deadpan "reasoner"

character: a child coping in the midst of two selfish,

immature adults. I'd compare her to Tatum O'Neal in Paper

Moon or Mary Badham in To Kill a Mockingbird for the way

she anchors the audience's perspective as the madness (competently related here by Ryan and Shelley) spins around her.

The real comedy lies in the "screwball" plot twist to which the film's title refers (we learn, early in the plot, that it is little Drew's character, not the parents, who is suing for divorce), and especially the story's underlying satire of the entertainment industry. Highlights include how Albert/Ryan's plummeting career as a director parodies those of Cimino (dust, smoke and flies a la Heaven's Gate) and Bogdanovich (starring untalented girlfriend in multi-million-dollar flops). An Andy Warhol style painting of Shelly Long as Marilyn in the background of one scene is just too funny, an example of how understated the true humor can be in this otherwise broadly-played farce.

Some points are disturbing, though: it's made a joke that Ryan is having an anxiety attack instead of a heart attack (try having one), or that his visitation rights are threatened if he doesn't make child support payments (an interesting social comment). Considering the real-life ups and downs of Ryan O'Neal's and Shelly Long's careers, however, I'd say the film's a roaring success.