Review of Chapter Two

Chapter Two (1979)
5/10
I always think I don't like James Caan and then I do
18 November 2023
Ok, first the story line - banal emerging romance between mature upper middle class, white, sophisticated-urban, divorcee/widower plot - neither engaging or particularly interesting - it starts up, comes to fruition, there are bumps, riding into the sunset

Next, production values - aren't any notable achievements in this regard - looks like a "made for TV" kind of thing - lots of scenes in New York restaurants, shopping at deli's and street markets, playing baseball and football in the Park - the usual, New York upper West Side lifestyle depictions.

Characters - again banal - so tired of Valerie Harper as "gal pal" and Joseph Bologna as wacky "brother" sidekick. The two main characters are framed as pretty much what you would expect given the story line

Music - unrelenting wave of waving and receding orchestral swells punctuated by piquant piano touches to signal how cute it all is in the "dating" phase replaced later by salacious bass saxophone riffs to cue they're "getting it on" - overall, very "elevator", very not-good bad

Performances - Mason and Caan are very good actors - this thing is very "chatty" - since that's really all it's got - and Mason and Caan deliver their lines - poor as they are - with excellent timing as between them and skillfully natural delivery of each line's potential. And there's a nice little "grown up" romance "chemistry" between them. So there's that.

Bottom line - unless you really just need something to let run before your eyes of a otherwise boring eveving, skip this one as a waste of time. :-)
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