Famed writer George Dunlap (Albert Finney) grows tired of his wife Faith (Diane Keaton). He leaves her and their four girls (Dana Hill, Viveka Davis, Tracey Gold, Tina Yothers) for his mistress Sandy (Karen Allen). Faith is depressed and then contractor Frank Henderson (Peter Weller) shows up at her door. He was hired before the split to build a tennis court. The family struggles with getting divorced and life after divorce.It's dark and it has some light. It has some over the top moments but it feels relatively real. There is a lot struggling going on. The drunken child beating is fine but the arguing in the restaurant is problematic. That scene is played for laughs but I kept wondering why they aren't getting kicked out. There has to be a better way to get them back in bed together. It felt too manufactured. As a side note, it's wonderful to see many of these future stars as little girls. I've been rewatching Family Ties recently. Dana Hill could be the central character but I also see the value of having two veterans at the center. The good far outweights the less good.

For me the key to this great film was the scene where Finney and Keaton end up in bed together. In their conversation at this tender but honest moment after their marriage has ended, they wonder aloud what happened to them. He says, "I'm not a kind person." She says, "I'm not kind either." These soft spoken admissions, amid the chaos of the violence, and screaming emotional upheaval woven through the film, provided an answer to what went wrong in the marriage. It's clear they still love each other --the whole film is an illustration of this bond, and he says so to his daughter near the end of the film. But they've run into the mundane problems that eat away at long term marriages without means of overcoming them. What are these means suggested by the film? Kindness and compassion. Neither has kindness toward or compassion for the other. They love their children, and they're "good" people, not immoral. But they have no compassion, not even for their children. Without compunction they say and do things in front of the children that can harm them for life. Neither has any compassion for the other's suffering, or any ability to put themselves in the other's shoes. So at the end (SPOILER) when he lies bloody and beaten with his hand up for comfort from her, she refuses to take his hand, and the camera freezes on this moment.

Once upon a time, art and literature were judged based upon an ability to make the viewers better people - uplifting literature was considered desirable. Although it has been nearly 25 years since I saw this movie, it sticks with me. It has one of the most realistic portrayals of children of any movie, and presents a picture of the end of a marriage with truth. As trite as it seems, the characters seemed to have gone through the fire and been refined, to have learned a better way of relating. And then there's the last 2 minutes or so. The maturity, the realism are destroyed as a main character inexplicably disintegrates and takes the movie along.Why isn't this movie on DVD? Why don't families watch it together? Why isn't it on anyone's top movies list? Easy. The cheap shot ending.

Drama about what happens when two parents (Albert Finney, Diane Keaton) divorce and the effect it has on them and their children.I must have seen this 3 times when it came out. I was only 20 and had no intention of marrying but the script and superb acting kept me coming back. The film pulls no punches and is sometimes very hard to watch (the R rating is well-deserved). You see a family slowly falling apart and it's painful. The only bad thing was the ending. One character overreacts ridiculously (Peter Weller) and things are still left hanging. I suppose that was left for the viewer to draw their own conclusions.The acting is exceptional--Finney and Keaton give dynamic performances. Dana Hill is just as good as their daughter. Peter Weller and Karen Allen are in this too--they're good but underused. There's also a cute joke in the film--you see all the girls singing "Fame" while being driven to school. That was director Alan Parker's last film before he did this.It's a crime this isn't available yet on DVD. A superb, shattering, emotional drama. Well worth catching.