Nothing in Common (1986) User Reviews

Muddy but Well-Intentioned, This is More Drama Than Comedy

[drqshadow-reviews · 5/10 · 1 July 2014]

Jackie Gleason, in his final film role, plays the icy, stonewalling father of a hyperactive, professional Tom Hanks. There's a good message at the core of this one, about the impenetrable veneer expected of men from his generation and the dire effects it bore on those around him. Hanks, a smooth-talking corporate '80s ad exec, and Gleason, a foot-to-pavement salesman struggling to deal with the end of his career, manage well with the heavy stuff while occasionally injecting a few welcome dashes of humor and sarcasm to the mix. The film is flawed, though, in its unbridled lack of restraint. Every last supporting character hints at a big, convoluted back story and many of them are halfheartedly explored. That diverts attention away from the key players and leaves us with what seems like one big, fuzzy, unfocused batch of incomplete or unfulfilling arcs. There's simply too much to keep track of, and too much time wasted with characters we don't care about. Noteworthy as the stage where Hanks showed he could be more than just a comic player, but otherwise it's too overstuffed and vague to recommend.

Hanks a little too jokey

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 11 October 2014]

David Basner (Tom Hanks) is a lovable cocky successful Chicago ad exec who just got promoted returning from vacation. He wants his boss Charlie Gargas (Hector Elizondo) to make him partner. Then his mother (Eva Marie Saint) leaves his father (Jackie Gleason). He must shuttle between his stubborn crass father, and his mother who is happy with her new found freedom. Donna Mildred Martin (Bess Armstrong) is his best friend and high school sweethearts. He is trying to land a big airline account and uses his charm on the owner Andrew Woolridge (Barry Corbin). He sleeps with the media director Cheryl Ann Wayne (Sela Ward) who turns out to be Woolridge's daughter. His father does nothing but complains and is struggling. Then he gets fired from his salesman job.

This movie tries too hard to be jokey. Director Garry Marshall is allowing Hanks to clown around a little too much. The broad comedy doesn't quite fit seeing how he's suppose to be a professional sweet talking the client. He is playing strictly as a wild creative ad exec who jokes around. The broad jokes don't fit either when the movie tries to move into more serious territories. The serious stuff has a bit more heft and that's due to genius of Jackie Gleason. He and Hanks have pretty good chemistry. I also have a minor problem with the over-use of montages to drive the story forward. It's lazy writing.

Garry Marshall once again sugar coats an important issue...and it works here!

[WalterFrith · 15 March 1999]

This is the movie that convinced me that Tom Hanks would go on one day to be an Oscar winning actor. In his last screen appearance, "the great one" Jackie Gleason is perfect as the father who becomes a thorn in his son's side. With his career in the advertising business going very well, Hanks is forced to care for his seriously ill father when he can as his parents (Oscar winner Eva Marie Saint is his mother) go through a divorce after 35 years together.

There are some hilarious jabs at some of the immoral politics contained within the corporate world. Bess Armstrong, Sela Ward and Hector Elizondo are all excellent in supporting roles.

Good performances, but too slow, predictable and clichéd

[spencer-w-hensley · 6/10 · 22 October 2016]

Just another piece of evidence that director Garry Marshall was best at doing romantic comedies over anything else. I was really looking forward to watching this film because I loved Marshall's "Pretty Woman", and I mean no disrespect to him especially with his recent passing but I have always felt his sister Penny is a much better filmmaker and this film is certainly proof of that. There are definitely some funny moments and the film starts off great, then goes totally flat and one-dimensional after the main focus of the plot is established. The problem here isn't the performances. Tom Hanks and Jackie Glaeason are both wonderful and do keep the movie at least watchable. It was also nice to see Eva Marie Saint (Hitchcock's "North by Northwest") in one of her later roles, in spite of being given very little to do, and there's also some good music, particularly the opening song by Christopher Cross. Hector Elizando a Garry Marshall regular also gives a good supporting performance. But once the story is set in motion and the problem between Gleason and Saint as Hanks' parents is established, the film becomes a slow, predictable and clichéd outing. It then tries to balance comedy with drama, and eventually just focuses more on being a drama, especially towards the end, but the predictability and slow- pacing of it all does the movie no justice, and it begins to slip into a point of desperation to be a feel-good, moving film. The stars can't be faulted. They still give great performances. Marshall can't be faulted. Even though he wasn't as strong a director as his sister he was still a decent one at the least. The problem lies solely with the story. This is a story with very little to offer in the way of genuine entertainment. We have seen this story done many times before and certainly since, and better at that. That's why the movie eventually becomes painfully slow, and predictable long before it is over and were it not for Hanks, Gleason Saint and Elizando's strong performances, the movie would indeed be unwatchable. Because of the strong performances it is mediocre at best and forgettable at worst. It would have been great to see all these stars and the director do a movie with a more engaging story. It almost seems like Marshall knew there was only so much he could do here, and depended on his actors to carry the weight. The result is an uneven movie, that really becomes more frustrating as it goes along and you wish it would just end already well before the two hour mark. Fortunately Marshall redeemed himself with romantic comedies like "Overboard" and "Pretty Woman", both undeniably better films suited for his directing style. It would only be two years later where Hanks would start to have that perfect balance between comedy and drama in "Big" interestingly enough directed by Garry's sister Penny. This might be a must see for die-hard fans of Gleason, whose final film performance this was as he died the following year. For everyone else though this is an uninteresting, non-original story and Hanks and Marshall proved later in their careers they were capable of making much better movies. On a side note, one other merit was seeing Dan Castalenetta (the voice of Homer Simpson), in a brief role as one of Hanks' advertising colleagues. Overall though the few merits of this movie don't make up for it's many flaws, which is a shame because the stars and director definitely deserved better, especially Gleason for a final film role.

Understated AF

[gijenks21 · 7/10 · 15 July 2021]

Ok sure... it's a character drama and rose can tend to be boring but Jackie Gleasons performance is beyond well executed and TOmmy Boy does a great job portraying the bratty offspring ..... a must watch for any 80s child.

Underrated early Hanks tragicomic picture !!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 16 October 2019]

Yes it's true, this is an almost unknown early Tom Hanks tragicomic picture, too overlong, weird, unfunny, even boring, however Hanks and Jackie Gleason were great, the last one deserved to be nominee to Academy Awards as supporting role, he was simply fantastic as grumpy old man, who was fired from your long job as seller, his wife left him for good, which lived together around 30 years without any sexual relations after the his son was born, actually his wife (Eve Marie Saint) is frigid, Hanks has a successful career as marketing manager, he is trying to get a great contract from an Airline Company, also has involved with two women, when his parents break apart his life stays upside down, one night realize that his father needs a pressing surgery on your foot, now he has to make a hard choice, take care of his forsaken cold father or got the profitable contract, the weak point is the soundtrack, so sugary, that spoils a little bit!!!

Resume:

First watch: 1990 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.25

Too overstuffed and vague to recommend

[eminkl · 5/10 · 18 April 2020]

Jackie Gleason, in his final film role, plays the icy, stonewalling father of a hyperactive, professional Tom Hanks. There's a good message at the core of this one, about the impenetrable veneer expected of men from his generation and the dire effects it bore on those around him. Hanks, a smooth-talking corporate '80s ad exec, and Gleason, a foot-to-pavement salesman struggling to deal with the end of his career, manage well with the heavy stuff while occasionally injecting a few welcome dashes of humor and sarcasm to the mix. The film is flawed, though, in its unbridled lack of restraint. Every last supporting character hints at a big, convoluted back story and many of them are halfheartedly explored. That diverts attention away from the key players and leaves us with what seems like one big, fuzzy, unfocused batch of incomplete or unfulfilling arcs. There's simply too much to keep track of, and too much time wasted with characters we don't care about. Noteworthy as the stage where Hanks showed he could be more than just a comic player, but otherwise it's too overstuffed and vague to recommend.

A conglomeration of film themes saved by Hanks & Gleason

[boomerchinde · 6/10 · 10 July 2007]

Not the best film from either Hanks or Gleason, but definitely not the worst either. Suffers from an indecision over whether it needs to be a comedy a drama or a sappy love wins over all things movie. Still, the humor is timed perfectly by Hanks, and Gleason, well, how can anyone ever say his timing can be off. He is truly the great one. The script is rather pedestrian and predictable, but still fun to watch. Eva Marie Saint is very good as the pathetic woman only now coming out of her shell. Hector Elizondo is as fine as you'll ever see him. The ending will jerk a few tears, and rightfully so. Pathos and laughter are mixed into a script that unfortunately wants to do all things for all people. Without Hanks or Gleason, this would have been flushed before it hit the screen.

2nd Only to The Applegates as Worst Movie Ever

[yomags-63968 · 1/10 · 26 August 2018]

Only 2nd to The Applegates and one step above True Lies for Worst Movie Ever, I've tried to sit through this crap at least 3 times without being able to finish it. The first and ONLY time I've EVER walked out of a movie theater when I paid for my ticket, it was just that unbearable. With such great actors you'd think that I could appreciate something about it, but no.

"Gleason went out on a performance to be proud of"

[Mr-Fusion · 6/10 · 13 June 2015]

Jackie Gleason and Tom Hanks: two very gifted actors in a movie that runs all over the road. "Nothing in Common" opens up with Hanks at maximum likability, his successful ad executive riding in on cocky youthful charm. His relationship with his coworkers is the stuff of dreams (or fiction), and he makes the job look fun. Which gives no indication as to just how no-nonsense this story will get. He's playing an only child who has to deal with his parents' sudden separation and father's failing health. In short, he brings his dramatic A-game (especially notable for being so early in his serious actor career). Gleason, for his part, is playing a character that's not all that easy to stomach (sometimes even hateful), but it's one hell of a performance. This movie is all about their struggling relationship, and both men make it work. It's the tone that's inconsistent; sometimes light, sometimes serious, with an ending that feels sugarcoated. The comedy feels at odds with the darker material.

Hanks' perfect blend of comedy/drama; fitting swan song for Gleason; underrated Marshall flick

[george.schmidt · 11 April 2003]

NOTHING IN COMMON (1986) ***1/2 Tom Hanks, Jackie Gleason, Hector Elizondo, Eva Marie Saint, Sela Ward, Bess Armstrong, Barry Corbin. Garry Marshall's winning serious comedy about ad exec Yuppie Hanks who faces the inevitable: caring for his at odds parents including separations, ageism and finally acceptance. Warm and slyly comic turn by Hanks with some great moments. Armstrong is adorable and Ward is sexy (just needed to state this for no other apparent reason). Best moment: Hanks telling off bullying client Corbin.

I didn't see the whole thing...

[lee_eisenberg · 2/10 · 4 July 2006]

...and I don't think that I needed to. What I saw went nowhere. If "Nothing in Common" was supposed to be a jab at the corporate world, then it didn't work. If it was supposed to be a look at relationships, then it didn't work. If I had seen this when it first came out, then I would have thought it unfathomable that Tom Hanks would ever win even one Oscar, much less back-to-back Oscars. How could Garry Marshall, having created something so great with "Happy Days", create something so idiotic with "Nothing in Common"? As for Jackie Gleason, I heard that "The Honeymooners" was actually a rather cruel show, so it's not really any surprise that his role here is a piece of drudgery. And how could a magnificent actress like Eva Marie Saint get herself mixed up in this crap? The only reason that I stopped short of giving this movie just one star was the presence of Tom Hanks and Eva Marie Saint (plus Hector Elizondo), who can make almost any movie seem really good. But even here they have trouble doing that.

Oh, and in case Eva Marie Saint is reading this: Happy Birthday, Eva! You were one of my grandfather's favorite customers in Superdrugs down in Los Angeles!

Nothing Funny

[ArtVandelayImporterExporter · 1/10 · 5 December 2020]

Frankly, I''m surprised Tom Hanks' career survived back-to-back dogs The Money Pit and Nothing in Common. If I had paid to see either one of them in a cinema I probably would never have coughed up again for one of his movies. But two in a row this terrible? Hanks is very fortunate he wasn't working during the studio system or his contract would have been terminated for being ''box office poison."

This movie starts with Hanks in the Mile High Club. Then he waltzes back into the office after vacation spouting enough s2xist gibberish to launch a #MeToo movement. Then we get to the ''plot," which is Hanks' mom and dad (Jackie Gleason and Eva Marie Saint) breaking up. Oooooh. I'm hooked now. Gleason, as far as I can tell, is the inspirtation for the "Old Man" character on Pawn Stars. Saint is so deglamorized I wondered what the point of casting her was.

Terrible, terrible, unfunny movie. Not a single laugh. Well, OK, that' a lie. When Hanks really lets fly on that gimme putt. That was funny.

The only redeeming value is seeing a lot of good looking women traipsing around in that fabulous 80s hair. And remembering a time when women dressed up in public and at work.

A Great Sleeper

[sampson-tx · 8/10 · 23 July 2005]

This is a great movie. It combines several emotional aspects of the human condition. Classic Tom Hanks humor, emotionally touching realism as well as some serious drama.

Over the years since it was released I have watched this dozen's of times. I never get tired of it. I am moved as David Basner is forced to face the reality of his parents divorce and tries to build an individual relationship with each of his parents.

I think this is much better than Splash, probably on par with BIG. Of course, just about anything with Tom Hanks is great simply because he is able to carry the load.

80's cheeze ball .....similar to "About Last Night".......

[TequilaMockingbird63 · 3/10 · 14 July 2005]

I liked some parts of this film mostly because of its Chicago location shots, But I thought the film's production values were very low budget for a Hollywood film. It really looks reminiscent of a made-for-TV movie. The overlaid 80's Casio keyboard soundtrack for example, made this film seem (well what it is) very very 80's cheese. Watching it i couldn't help think immediately of "About Last Night" a GREAT film! How can two films both shot in Chicago, the same year (1986), and both films a Tri-Star production look so completely different!?! In a nutshell my favorite actor in this film was Eva Marie Saint who indeed gave a saint of a performance - The scene of her talking to her husband (Gleason) in the hospital, spilling her guts "What Happened to us Max? I cared, I know I cared" and Max's reply was a self-centered cold, "Bullshit". God I felt her pain. It ripped my heart out. Don't rent this film but if it comes on TV on a Sunday afternoon you may get thru it but then go out immediately and rent "About Last Night" to cheer you up. This one is a BIG DOWNER.

An intelligent and moving comedy drama featuring one of Tom Hanks' better performances

[Isaac5855 · 17 January 2007]

NOTHING IN COMMON was a smart and sentimental comedy drama that offered a pre-Oscar'ed Tom Hanks one of his best earlier roles. Hanks plays David Basner, an advertising executive whose lightning-quick advancement at his company becomes hampered when has to start taking care of his father (Jackie Gleason, in his final film role)who has become completely helpless after his wife (Eva Maria Saint) has left him. This comedy takes some pointed and effective jabs at the advertising industry and still manages to be a warm family story as well. Hanks beautifully walks a fine line between comedy and drama in one of his better and nearly forgotten performances. Gleason is abrasive as the dad, but Saint is lovely as the mom. Sela Ward, Bess Armstrong, and Barry Corbin are also effective in supporting roles and the ending has been known to produce a few tears. An intelligent and heartwarming look at the choices that we sometimes have to make regarding career and family.

A hidden Tom Hanks gem

[studioAT · 4/10 · 16 October 2019]

I think this is the sort of film that's quality sneaks up on you.

Gary Marshall's film starts out as just another early Tom Hanks comedy, but then broadens into something quite dramatic and heartfelt.

If you haven't seen this early Hanks film, it's well worth seeking out.

A bit of an awkward experience to say the least.

[callanvass · 5/10 · 16 September 2014]

David (Tom Hanks) has everything he could ever want in life! Fame, fortune, success, you name it. His life takes a chaotic turn when he finds out his parents have split up. I'm a big fan of Tom Hanks. The man can usually do no wrong, but this movie was a bit of a misfire. It tries to balance serious situations with awkward comedy, but it doesn't mesh together very well. The performances aren't the problem. Tom Hanks is absolutely great as he usually is, I didn't find his character very sympathetic though. Jackie Gleason & Eva Marie Saint are solid as the parents, but not easy to like either. Another problem I had with this movie is the poor pacing issues. This movie runs longer than it should for such a dull affair.

I didn't hate this movie, but it was a rather mundane experience. Hanks fans might wanna give it a look, but I can't say there is much to look forward to.

5/10

A truly underrated Tom Hanks film

[Idocamstuf · 9/10 · 26 July 2002]

I have wanted to see this movie for a while now, and I finally saw it last night. Tom Hanks did a great job, and so did Jackie Gleason. In the 80's Tom Hanks made a lot of unmemorable films(Bachelor Party, The Man With One Red Shoe, Volunteers, The Money Pit, ect.), but this film is much better than all of those. This was also Tom Hanks' first dramatic role. This film is probubly a difficult film to find, but if you can find it, get it and watch it.

Tom Hanks was great, even back then

[avi-4 · 1 July 2004]

The story line is pretty straight forward, and the production was good, especially considering the 80's style of movie making. But Tom carries the movie, with his now-classic mix of rapier wit, sarcasm, and charming humor.

Tom play David Basner, a talented, slightly arrogant Chicago ad-exec whose parents just split after 50+ years of marriage. Though he has left "the nest" and views his parents as a necessary evil to be dealt with as little as possible, he finds himself providing ever-increasing support to each parent, all the while discovering the frailty and human side of each of them, and discovering what his priorities should be.

A definite watch

Wonderful Movie - Bess Armstrong at Her Best

[puglover323 · 10/10 · 26 February 2005]

I think the movie, "Nothing in Common" was a very wonderful show, from both the perspective of the acting and writing. The evolution of the relationship between the characters of Tom Hanks and Jackie Gleason was superb. However, what also had such a high degree of meaning to me was the character development between Tom Hanks and Bess Armstrong. Most especially poignant was the romantic street scene during about the middle of the movie, as the Carly Simon song played, "If It Wasn't Love" when Hanks comes to the realization of what he was letting go..and thus begins to grow up. The eye connection between Hanks and Armstrong as she begins to peddle away toward the end of the song, says it all. No dialog was spoken at all during this scene with the exception of Ms. Simon's lyrics...very moving. Bess Armstrong was wonderful in this role, and I believe much overlooked. She was beautiful inside and out. As another great song once stated, "sometimes, the very thing you're looking for is the one thing you can't see". The movie was the greatest. The actors art seemed effortless, however, that is the sign of a professional. I highly recommend.

Lots of talent, script a little facile

[Nozz · 18 September 2004]

The film begins with a barrage of wit from Tom Hanks as an adman whose business is creativity. And indeed why should he not be witty? But then we meet his father, who is on his way to dying the death of a salesman, and his father is just as brilliantly witty. The lines just aren't lines that ordinary people could come up with. Everyone is a little too quick with the comedy, and when the comedy pauses, everyone is a little too quick to come up with the deep but gracefully phrased emotional revelations. And yet the movie is long; though most of the large cast of characters is quite undeveloped, still the script has a mighty load of relationships: Hanks with his father, Hanks with his mother (not so much), Hanks with two different girlfriends, the father with the mother, Hanks with his boss, and Hanks with the big client. The big client is perhaps the worst: the stereotype of the big blowhard who is charmed when you call him a big blowhard to his face.

I think there were two movies here: the one about the workplace, with a little subplot about the father; and the one about the father, with a little subplot about the workplace. I suspect, with no huge evidence, that someone had an emotional investment in not leaving material out. Some of the details have the ring of autobiography.

Several big talents appear in the movie: not only Jackie Gleason, Tom Hanks, and Eva Marie Saint but also Hector Elizondo and, in a tiny role, Dan Castellaneta. Nobody does anything here that he hasn't done better elsewhere, but still it's good to see them all.

The First Film That Really Showed Tom Hanks' Unlimited Potential

[tfrizzell · 9 December 2000]

Tom Hanks had been around for a few years before "Nothing in Common", but it was this film that really showed how great he could be as an actor. He stars as a high-class advertising executive whose life is turned upside down when his elderly parents (Jackie Gleason and Eva Marie Saint) get divorced. While Saint adjusts and becomes happy with her life, it seems that Gleason just becomes more angry. On top of this, his health quickly worsens. While Hanks is working with Barry Corbin and daughter Sela Ward on a big advertising deal, it seems that Gleason's diabetic condition is becoming a real problem. Gleason has basically upset everyone so much that everyone has given up on him and do not even know about his condition. Hanks proves to be the only one that Gleason can count on in the end. The relationship between Hanks and Gleason makes "Nothing in Common" a somewhat forgotten treasure from the 1980s. Tom Hanks proved that he could handle delicate material and even mix it with smart comedy. All the players are great as well. Along with all the aforementioned actors, Hector Elizondo and Bess Armstrong do good work as well. The screenplay is solid and the direction is focused throughout. 4 stars out of 5.

A very touching and meaningful movie.

[rortrain · 10/10 · 27 April 2014]

"Nothing in common" is truly a movie about relationships. It has so many interesting characters that are so important to each others. I have seen thousands of movies and the relation between the characters of Tom Hanks and Bess Armstrong is the most beautiful i have seen in a movie. Bess armstrong is so charming and beautiful, she brings sensibility and beauty to every scene she is in. We can see that she and tom loves each others but there are so many things that separate them. The beautiful song of Carly Simon "if it wasn't love" playing with images of the movie showing the people evolving with each others, and only by looking to their faces we see so many feelings of care and tenderness. It is a magic moment in the movie. Especially when Bess turns around and gives a touching look at Tom before going away with her bicycle, she tells him only with her eyes that he is letting her go.She is so expressive and touching in the expression of her love. It is also very touching to see the character of tom hanks, confronting but also caring for his father and his mother. This movie gives a very important message that we should talk to the people we love, tell them how we feel and tell them that we love them. And also, that we should create more happy and important moments with the people we love . It is a very underrated movie. It is very unfair that this movie has a 5.9 rating.

Good movie.

[pk-2 · 4 April 2007]

Someone mentioned about last night, which they also hated, well its the opposite for me. I was around the ages of the main characters when both these came out and liked both of them. In this movie, you sorta see the early goofy (but very Funny) Tom Hanks doing his transition to the more serious Hanks as the movie goes on. And pretty much was his last real comedy role. Hanks does his usual funny shtick and it works well. And Gleason is great, and sad as an aging ex great sales rep, trying to hang on to his cust. as a changing world leaves him without a place. And the divorce of Hanks Parents thrown in sorta makes this a bittersweet comedy. Overall, its a good movie.