Author! Author! (1982)

Mixed feelings, some soild points

There are two good things to be said of Arthur Hiller's Author! Author!
(at the Plaza): Tuesday Weld and Dyan Cannon. The former plays Al
Pacino's wife, the latter his mistress. Both are actresses of
distinction. Both look terrific. Both should be reminded that this too
shall pass.

As Broadway playwright Ivan Travalian, an Armenian Neil Simon, Al
Pacino is another matter. Pacino is an actor of distinction, but he
does not look terrific - he looks, in fact, unaccountably dissipated,
like mid- period Leonard Cohen - and he has retained the leaden
lifelessness he brought to Cruising. Because Israel Horovitz's
abominable script was apparently conceived with Richard Dreyfuss in
mind (Ivan Travalian is a twinkly, manic shouter), Pacino's
lugubriousness sabotages whatever infinitesimal chance the movie might
have had for success (it's not what you'd call a great loss).

The much-married Ivan is rearing, $ la Dustin Hoffman's Ted Kramer,
five children abandoned by Ivan's various wives. He is a loving father
and is so devotedly altrustic he is lacking an artist's ego - the
reason this mother hen wants the newest play to become a hit is so
there will be enough money to feed the chicks.

The brood is composed of the most appalling set of exhibitionistic
child actors this side of Eight Is Enough; the delicately modulated
characterizations achieved from the young performers in E.T. and
Poltergeist by Steven Spielberg appear to be the products of another
species.

That this comedy is not funny is bad enough; that it is resolutely and
maliciously anti-female is unforgivable. Miss Weld's witless wife is
so self-absorbed the audience actually applauds when Pacino tells her
to stay out of the ocean and "give the sharks a break," while Miss
Cannon's Broadway actress is so selfish she can't stand more than a
week with the playwright's kiddies. (I know why: as a performer of
sensitivity, she is tortured by the bad acting in the house.) Kramer
vs. Kramer's mild sentimentality about single fathers has become a
full-blown disease in Author! Author!: Israel Horovitz hasn't written a
character; he's put Mother Teresa into a townhouse. Benjamin Miller,
Filmbay Editor. July 7, 2008

AUthor Author

DVD was delivered in good time, faster than stated. DVD was in good condition. HOwever was disappointed to find that the DVD version crops off the original beginning and 10 minutes off the end. The oriinal screen and VHS version ends with a celebration the next day in Ivan's bedroom with the kids hitting Ivan with a cake! The DVD version ends on the street the night before in front of the news stand. Disappointing. July 6, 2008

Where's the ending!!!!

I finally find one of my all time favorite Pacino movies on DVD only to have the ending scene cut!! Why the hell are things like this done?! DVDs are supposed to offer special features, cast interviews and missing scenes. Maybe when the next version of this movie is released it will contain the missing scenes from this release!!! A BIG disappointment!! June 16, 2008

Stop changing these movies

First let me say, I am glad that this is finally on DVD. I have been looking for this one. Second what is with these companies. They changed the ending. Ok, not changed it, THEY TOOK IT OUT. I enjoyed this movie when it first came out. It should how a father struggled to make ends meat with 5 kids. Having to deal with a cheating wife, and still write a play. It showed the love that a father has in these kids. Mind you only one is his. The other 4 are his by marriage and he loves them as if they were his own. But to take out the one scene that was fun and touching is stupid. What is wrong with the kids showing there father that, not only is he a success on Braodway but that he is still their Dad. I loved that scene and hoped that when it was released on DVD it would be there. But NO! They took it out and stopped it when he is reading the paper. They really need think. This is not the first movie that has been changed. I now am going to try and get the VHS instead. At least that one, hopefully they didnt change. December 15, 2007

Author! Author!

This is one of Al Pacino's best roles in any of his movies. The entire cast was outstanding and well directed. It has GREAT lines, and you'll laugh a lot. Also touches real life stuff and softens the impact of places where maybe you can laugh at yourself and keep on going. Light hearted and fun. EVERYONE should see Author! Author! August 11, 2007

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