Episodes in the lives of two East Coast couples who are friends: Jeff Daniels and Elizabeth Perkins are the sweethearts (sweet hearts?) just getting their romance started, while Don Johnson and Susan Sarandon are married-and-bickering with kids. Tolerable comedy-drama from screenwriter Ernest Thompson of "On Golden Pond" fame isn't as maudlin (or, at least to my taste, as fraudulent) as that other film, though neither is it particularly witty or otherwise distinguished. Someone (either director Robert Greenwald, or Thompson, or perhaps the editor) chose to make each incident into its own chapter, like pages from a marital scrapbook or a photogenic kisses-and-hisses calendar. The picture comes off slight as a result, lacking in both romance and frivolity. Solid acting saves much of it, particularly by Don Johnson, whose bursts of temperament are convincing. Cinematographer Tak Fujimoto gives the movie a warm 'neighborly' feel that belies some of the emotions being played out. ** from ****
Review of Sweet Hearts Dance
