Basically the character played by Louise Lasser is the more annoying of the two (the other being Charles Grodin), traveling cross country from New York to california, never having met before, and discovering a beautiful friendship that could grow into romance. He separated from his wife, and she's in a one-sided romance with a boyfriend in Cali who seems to want out of the relationship. Lasser, flighty and indecisive, had me in stitches every time they stopped at a Roadside restaurant and she couldn't make up her mind, with Julie Bovasso from "Saturday Night Fever" in one scene totally annoying by Lasser's constant bird like chattering. She is definitely an annoying person at times, but frequently lovable and curious, ultimately endearing even if I wouldn't want to spend lengthy periods of time with her. Grodin accepts her for who she is, warts and all, and the non-judgmental attitude that he has towards her (most of the time) is refreshing because he is awfully real some people would be desperate to escape from her as fast as possible.
Definitely a character driven story, these two troubled people are very interesting to get to know in a short period of time, and as their relationship goes from strangers to friendship to possible romance, it's easy to come to care about them. So they teach the audience about acceptance, quirky people in a very quirky time (the late 70's), and while those they encounter don't necessarily accept them, the fact that they learn to accept themselves as they accept each other (often reluctantly, with times of doubt), the viewer becomes a cheerleader on the side, hoping that they can get past their oddball relationship and the things that threatened to pull them apart even as friends. It's a nice slice of life comedy with cult favorites of the seventies getting the opportunity to show that even character actors can be leads in a story and have the audience wanting to figure them out. Lasser, a Woody Allen vet, reminded me of an older Mia Farrow type, and her Valarie Harper/Fran Drescher like voice had me enjoy it that quality for her speech patterns, and wishing there were more films like this that showed real people living their lives in real ways minus the usual over the top Hollywood glamour.
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