Main Cast: Ryan O'Neal, Shelley Long, Drew Barrymore, Sam Wanamaker, Allen Garfield
Release Year: 1984
Country: US
Run Time: 114 minutes
Plot
In this human-scale drama/comedy, a pair of Beverly Hills parents, Albert (Ryan O'Neal) and Lucy (Shelley Long) first come together as a couple interested in writing (she) and teaching (he), but Albert's life takes an upscale turn when he starts both writing and then directing in Hollywood. As he becomes successful, Lucy is forced to burrow into her own writing in self-defense, and after her book is well-received, she is compensated a little for Albert's lack of attention and philandering. After Hollywood and its well-known flaws are sketched out in the increasingly strained marriage, the story reaches its primary focus: Albert and Lucy's 9-year-old daughter Casey (Drew Barrymore) talks to a lawyer because she wants to sue her parents for divorce. She gets no hugs or affection, and precious little attention, and she would prefer to go live with the maid. Given the parents' celebrity, the case receives wide press -- and the family begins to reconsider where it is going and why. Although a bit long, especially in the first half which wanders off course a little, the story is engaging enough (especially for Hollywood buffs) to balance any weaknesses. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Review
If Irreconcilable Differences had been produced twenty years later, it would have been made for the cable channel E!. Those familiar with Hollywood scandals will enjoy this film. Ryan O'Neal's character, a film scholar who had written a thesis on the films of Ernst Lubitsch and favors studious looking think-lensed glasses, is an obvious evocation of Peter Bogdonovich. The character's marriage to Lucy (Shelley Long), and his rise to fame closely resembles Bogdanovich's relationship with Polly Platt and his own early career success. What turns Irreconcilable Differences into something more than Hollywood gossip is the preternatural maturity of Drew Barrymore. Here cast as a child who sees the emptiness of her father's Hollywood lifestyle and mourns the crumbling of her family, she communicates a weariness that would be disturbing from someone so young were it not for her superb comic timing. Barrymore, and the rest of the cast, makes this material worthwhile for any audience, even those who know nothing of Bogdanovich, Platt, or Cybill Shepherd - hysterically spoofed here by a very young Sharon Stone. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Sharon Stone - Blake Chandler; Beverlee Reed - Dotty Chandler; Carl Byrd - Sound Man; Hortensia Colorado - Maria Hernandez; Jenny Gago - Tracy; Wendy Gordon - Reporter; David Graf - Bink; Eloise Hardt - Elaine Kessler; Ildiko Jaid - Whispering Woman; Dana Kaminski - Woman in Dress Shop; Kelly Lange - Anchorwoman; Ken Lerner - Doctor; Larry Marko - Court Clerk; Kim Marriner - Reporter; Mark May - Reporter; Irving Meyers - Man in Bar; Annie Meyers-Shyer - Little Girl in Crowd; Steven K. Miller - Reporter; Richard Minchenberg - Howard Kay; Stuart Pankin - Ronnie; David Paymer - Alan Slusier; Rex Reed - Entertainment Editor; Charlotte Stewart - Sally; Lorinne Vozoff - Judge Shalack; Steffen Zacharias - Man at Party; Luana Anders - Atlanta Widow; William A. Fraker - Gabrielle Cinematographer; Ida Random - Woman at Party; Laura Campbell - Uptight Woman; Deborah Cody - Reporter; Minnie Lindsay - Inez; Arlin Miller - Radio Newscaster; David D'Arnal - Waiter; Ken Gale - Reporter; Gregory Hodal - Atlanta Preacher; Johna Stewart - Little Casey
Credit
Jane Bogart - Art Director, Ida Random - Art Director, Mort Schwartz - Costume Designer, Joe Tompkins - Costume Designer, Charles Shyer - Director, John F. Burnett - Editor, Nancy Meyers - Executive Producer, Paul De Senneville - Composer (Music Score), Olivier Toussant - Composer (Music Score), Ida Random - Production Designer, William A. Fraker - Cinematographer, Richard Hashimoto - Producer, Nancy Meyers - Producer, Arlene Sellers - Producer, Alex Winitsky - Producer, William A. Fraker - Screenwriter, Nancy Meyers - Screenwriter, Charles Shyer - Screenwriter
Meeting on the road, amateur writer Lucy (Shelley Long) and film professor Albert (Ryan O'Neal) fell in love, married, and had a daughter Casey (Drew Barrymore) together. When Albert's career shifts into overdrive as an acclaimed film director, his attentions are drawn to young starlet Blake Chandler (Sharon Stone), their marriage is strained to the breaking point and Albert takes all the credit for his work and leaves none to Lucy, who helped him write the scripts to his hit films. After their divorce, Lucy channels her frustrations with their old union into a bestselling book, making her the toast of the town on the literati circuit. But what the two of them fail to realize is that in all of their egotism, selfishness and complete focus on their careers, their relationship sours with their precocious daughter. Emotionally browbeaten after the years of neglect, the independent Casey makes the ultimate decision: to divorce her parents, which comes as a complete surprise to both her folks.
