Abbie (Billy Crystal) is a surgeon who just had a heart attack. On his on again off again girlfriend Lisa (JoBeth Williams)'s insistence, he visits his estranged father Abe (Alan King). Abe is a failed actor/extra who is slowly suffering from dementia.Henry Winkler directs this movie. He doesn't really have any vision or style. All he does is just turn on the camera and let the actors go. And that's what Alan King does. He's manic. He's powerful. Billy Crystal is playing the angry young man trying to reconnect with his crazy father.The pace is slow and cumbersome. The jokes come fast and deliver flat. Everybody is grumpy. I hoped the movie to be better. I'm pulling for them. But Crystal is just too grumpy.The stuff about being an extra just doesn't ring true. It may seem right if you don't think about it. But if an extra keeps causing trouble, he'd be quickly kicked off the set.

I kind of feel that Billy Crystal did this film in part to get closure with his father (who died when Billy was 15). It's an amazingly good film and shows off the depth of acting Billy Crystal and Alan King can do. They played very well off of each other in this movie.It's always nice to see JoBeth Williams on the screen, who I've always thought was scrumptious. A number of the extras who work with Alan King are extras who you've seen in films forever. **SPOILER** Whenever I tell people about this, I tell them about the recurring question Billy Crystal asks his father: "Don't you feel like a putz?" The final punchline of the joke is a classic. (If you haven't seen the film, I'm not going to reveal that much--it's very moving and has even made me think of something similar.)Go see it. You'll sniffle and laugh throughout.

This a great film for all the regular reasons: good acting, good writing, good themes, great production values and very watchable. This movie is a father and son film. But this movie also shows the non-Hollywood public those trials and tribulations of being a struggling (hopefully working) actor. This film also tackles some of the public prejudice against beginning actors and their starting acting gigs in Hollywood. Many people, wrongly make fun of, dismiss and attack starting non-established actors for their commercial and background (extra) work. This is because of the misinformation in the public's collective mis-informed mind. Many if not all major stars, ALL started as background performers. Actors gradually moved up through the chain of career successes. The key is persistence! All actors should be respected for their acting talents! This film does a great job in clearly illustrating how valuable any acting in this profession is worth respecting. A great inside look at the "background" of Hollywood acting and films. A great cameo of Sean Connery in this film from his working at Paramount '88 for the film "Presido". Many thumbs up!

Okay, the movie really isn't that good but it really does make me wail like a newborn. It's the whole father/son relationship thing that works in this film. I'm not a big fan of Billy Crystal but he's okay in this. Alan King is the real star and he shines pretty bright. Give it a chance.