... written and directed by Blake Edwards. Jack Lemmon stars as a man having a late mid-life crisis of sorts, while his stoic wife, played by Julie Andrews, waits for the results of a biopsy. The whole film takes place over one fraught weekend as their grown children come to visit for Lemmon's impending birthday celebration.Jack Lemmon really grated on my nerves in this one, with all of his late-career mannerisms and vocal inflections ratcheted up to the top. Andrews is good in a thankless role, although I kept hoping she would kick Lemmon in the face. Upper-class malaise and fear of mortality are decent subjects better explored in other films. Lemmon himself even seems to be repeating his earlier turn in Save the Tiger, although this time with less restraint. There are a couple of humorous touches, but few enough to leave comedy off of the film's description.This is the only Jack Lemmon movie I can think of that I have not enjoyed, and that is quite a feat.

This is a movie about life! The title fits perfectly. The wife is doing her best (as most do) to keep things on an even keel, balancing home, and work while going through a scary medical crises, alone. She cannot tell her husband, because he is selfishly going through his own "age" crisis. He is a hypochondriac who refuses to believe there is nothing wrong with him, and he feels he is a failure in every part of his life. They have children who have lives and careers of their own, and are not very close personally. I get the feeling he was never close to his children, and his wife always had to run interference between him and them. I feel she would have liked to have had a much closer relationship with her children, but, with such a self centered husband, that was impossible. This movie is funny, sad, pathetic, and very,very realistic.

An interesting misfire. Director and co-writer Blake Edwards tries for an autobiographical touch in this family-laden drama, and was rightly accused of narcissism by the critics (who probably wouldn't have pounced so hard had the picture been made with a bit more flavor). 60-year-old architect in Southern California expounds on life's woes while his too-patient spouse deals privately with her own agonies. Although Jack Lemmon does get to spout off with some well-written (if familiar) tyrannies, and Julie Andrews is allowed to put in her much-needed two-cents near the finish, I felt Edwards' film was far removed from reality. It seems to exist in a poor-sports netherworld in which only the wealthy are unhappy. Perhaps it's time for Edwards to get away from the beach-front condos of Malibu and see how the other half lives. *1/2 from ****

Many people dislike this film because of its melodramatic sentimentality, but I love it because Lemmon's performance is near perfect. I say this because as we see Harvey Fairchild suffer a mid life crisis, we see Jack Lemmon, the actor, suffer. This film was made in the years when Lemmon was going through problems of his own, with drinking and among other things. Lemmon captured numerous demons through the performance of Harvey, plus I think the film is good in general. Robert Loggia is another favorite of mine and he, along with his Oscar nod in the same year for "Jagged Edge," is simply wonderful as Harvey's friend and priest who drinks as people give their confessions. Sally Kellerman is also a delight.