I've been trying to watch everything I can of Hal Ashby's, since I'm a big fan of Being There and Shampoo. My Tivo's been recording all of them, and for some reason, this film and The Last Detail are constantly being shown right now. I immediately watched The Last Detail, and loved it. I'd been putting off this one, because it just didn't sound appealing. Man, were my instincts right on this one. It doesn't even feel like an Ashby film. Everyone's been commenting on the poor baseball quality of the film, but it's equally appalling at the music end. Does anyone believe for a minute that Rebecca De Mornay and Loudon Wainwright III (yes, that's him) have a chance in hell at a record deal? Were record labels in the eighties desperately seeking bands that could do lame covers of both "Little Red Corvette" and "Love the One You're With"? I've had to watch this movie in chunks. I'm determined to finish it. I'm now on day three, maybe even four, of attempting to get through this. I'm in the last few minutes, Michael O'Keefe just hit the clichéd pivotal home run, and I couldn't care less. What went wrong here? I'm not a Neil Simon fan, but I'd think Ashby could have done something with this. Perhaps it's the impact of the eighties on a seventies auteur.
Review of The Slugger's Wife
