Home Box Office was still finding its footing in 1985 in regards to its original programming, but the romantic comedy "Finnegan Begin Again" was a bright spot for the cable network, a snug cross between a movie-of-the-week and a less-sensational film meant for theatrical release. Robert Preston does wonders with an impossible creation, that of Michael Finnegan, who might best be described as a cynical optimist (his anonymously-written advice column is tart and brutally truthful, while he skips along the crime-ridden streets of Virginia with joie de vivre); Mary Tyler Moore is a teacher having an affair with a married man who crosses his path. Walter Lockwood's teleplay, an original, is filled with interesting conversations and amusing repartee that bring out the best in both Preston and Moore (this was the warmest and most approachable Mary had been in some time). One particular scene of slapstick nonsense threatens to mar the film, and Sam Waterston is all over the place as Moore's married lover, but the main focus is on the satin-and-sandpaper relationship between the two principals, and they make the film worthwhile.
Review of Finnegan Begin Again
