NEW YORK -- It's nice to see Sally Kellerman once again in a starring role on the big screen, but that's about it in terms of the positive attributes of this bizarre comedy about a long-married couple's relationship falling apart.
"The Lay of the Land", receiving a token theatrical release, will best find a home on late-night cable.
Kellerman plays M.J., a documentary filmmaker whose career and marriage have both hit the skids. Her husband Harvey (Ed Begley Jr.), a college professor going through a typical midlife crisis, begins an affair with a beautiful blond co-ed (Sandra Taylor) who inexplicably has an obsession for him. The desperate M.J. resorts to both a shrink (Tyne Daly) and a flamboyant private detective (Stuart Margolin) in order to get the goods on Harvey.
Mel Shapiro's screenplay shifts awkwardly between comedy and drama with unfortunate results. Whenever we begin to care about the main characters, who are not without interest, the film stops dead with scenes such as the flashy and silly fantasy sequences between M.J. and the shrink, with Daly adopting a series of outlandish costumes and accents. Also less than edifying are the supporting characters: Margolin has been directed to camp it up as if he were still on "The Rockford Files", and Taylor's sex-starved co-ed is a stereotype direct from the pages of Playboy.
Kellerman, who also co-produced, gives the M.J. role her all, and manages to emerge with her dignity and beauty intact; Begley, although he has to cope with an impossible-to-play breakdown scene, has at least more to do here than the silly sitcom work he's been getting lately. Ultimately, though, this is not a project that's going to enhance anyone's resume.
THE LAY OF THE LAND
Northern Arts Entertainment
Director Larry Arrick
Producers Jonathan D. Krane, Sally Kellerman
Screenplay Mel Shapiro
Executive producers Edward Oleschak,
Ralph R. Clemente
Co-producer Mary Hinton
Director of photography Frederic Goodich
Editor Richard Brummer
Music Jeff Lass
Color/stereo
Cast:
M.J. Dankworth Sally Kellerman
Harvey Dankworth Ed Begley Jr.
Muriel Johanson Sandra Taylor
Carmine Ficcone Stuart Margolin
Dr. Guttmacher Tyne Daly
Running time -- 94 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
"The Lay of the Land", receiving a token theatrical release, will best find a home on late-night cable.
Kellerman plays M.J., a documentary filmmaker whose career and marriage have both hit the skids. Her husband Harvey (Ed Begley Jr.), a college professor going through a typical midlife crisis, begins an affair with a beautiful blond co-ed (Sandra Taylor) who inexplicably has an obsession for him. The desperate M.J. resorts to both a shrink (Tyne Daly) and a flamboyant private detective (Stuart Margolin) in order to get the goods on Harvey.
Mel Shapiro's screenplay shifts awkwardly between comedy and drama with unfortunate results. Whenever we begin to care about the main characters, who are not without interest, the film stops dead with scenes such as the flashy and silly fantasy sequences between M.J. and the shrink, with Daly adopting a series of outlandish costumes and accents. Also less than edifying are the supporting characters: Margolin has been directed to camp it up as if he were still on "The Rockford Files", and Taylor's sex-starved co-ed is a stereotype direct from the pages of Playboy.
Kellerman, who also co-produced, gives the M.J. role her all, and manages to emerge with her dignity and beauty intact; Begley, although he has to cope with an impossible-to-play breakdown scene, has at least more to do here than the silly sitcom work he's been getting lately. Ultimately, though, this is not a project that's going to enhance anyone's resume.
THE LAY OF THE LAND
Northern Arts Entertainment
Director Larry Arrick
Producers Jonathan D. Krane, Sally Kellerman
Screenplay Mel Shapiro
Executive producers Edward Oleschak,
Ralph R. Clemente
Co-producer Mary Hinton
Director of photography Frederic Goodich
Editor Richard Brummer
Music Jeff Lass
Color/stereo
Cast:
M.J. Dankworth Sally Kellerman
Harvey Dankworth Ed Begley Jr.
Muriel Johanson Sandra Taylor
Carmine Ficcone Stuart Margolin
Dr. Guttmacher Tyne Daly
Running time -- 94 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 9/29/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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