User Reviews

Drew pretty much steals the show as the deadpan "reasoner"

character: a child coping in the midst of two selfish,

immature adults. I'd compare her to Tatum O'Neal in Paper

Moon or Mary Badham in To Kill a Mockingbird for the way

she anchors the audience's perspective as the madness (competently related here by Ryan and Shelley) spins around her.

The real comedy lies in the "screwball" plot twist to which the film's title refers (we learn, early in the plot, that it is little Drew's character, not the parents, who is suing for divorce), and especially the story's underlying satire of the entertainment industry. Highlights include how Albert/Ryan's plummeting career as a director parodies those of Cimino (dust, smoke and flies a la Heaven's Gate) and Bogdanovich (starring untalented girlfriend in multi-million-dollar flops). An Andy Warhol style painting of Shelly Long as Marilyn in the background of one scene is just too funny, an example of how understated the true humor can be in this otherwise broadly-played farce.

Some points are disturbing, though: it's made a joke that Ryan is having an anxiety attack instead of a heart attack (try having one), or that his visitation rights are threatened if he doesn't make child support payments (an interesting social comment). Considering the real-life ups and downs of Ryan O'Neal's and Shelly Long's careers, however, I'd say the film's a roaring success.

I would like to give this a higher score, just for sentimental reasons. It is so much more romantic than any Meg Ryan movie. However this isn't saying much and essentially this is not a enormously groundbreaking, thought provoking, jaw dropping or gut wrenching movie. What it is, is a well written, smart, funny, well acted and well executed tear jerker which could have the stoniest of hearts melting by the end.

I honestly feel that the relationship between people who fall out of love is well documented here, and what adds an extra depth to this story is the effect is has on the children, be it in this case an extremely well casted Drew Barrymore.

This is a smart tale which deserves to be viewed as a warning to those who fall in and out of love easily. But it is also a nice piece of Sunday evening entertainment, with a sharp script about Hollywood, parenting and matrimony.

If you're ever channel surfing at what ever time in the day and just happen to pass by a movie that features Shelley Long, Barry Lyndon, the girl from E.T and a young Sharon Stone. Give it a try, you will be impressed.

The movie starts with a lawyer telling his client what it means to divorce. Then we find out his client is a precocious little girl.

In the courtroom, the girl's parents begin telling their story, which we see though flashbacks. Albert is hitchhiking across the country, and Lucy is taking her boyfriend's car to him, and refuses to stop but instead splashes mud all over Albert. Later Albert is freezing and wet and Lucy feels sorry for him ...

The movie is mostly a comedy as Albert and Lucy get to know each other and have a number of misadventures. But Albert, who has a new job as a film professor at UCLA, really wants to direct, and as he makes the contacts that will allow this to happen, he and Lucy see Hollywood life and hope that won't happen to them. Unfortunately ...

I liked the movie best when it was a lighthearted comedy. But something had to happen to make Casey want to 'divorce' her parents. Some of it was funny, and some hard to watch. Eventually, whenever the movie would take a dramatic turn, it would recover. And the ending was happy, in a way.

Shelley Long and Ryan O'Neal did a great job, and Long went through a number of character changes. Lucy started out adorable and perky but later became disillusioned and bitter. Then she became a confident ... witch (or something that rhymes, anyway).

Drew Barrymore was wonderful for a child. I saw a lot of good acting performances, and it would be hard to list them all. Sharon Stone was good as Blake Chandler, a bubblehead who for some odd reason became a star with Albert's help. Blake later showed more dimension to her character, displaying a warm side at one point and later a spoiled side as she expected star treatment. Another good performance came from the actress playing the housekeeper/nanny who apparently spent the most time with Casey. Not a lot of lines, but the character's professionalism and warmth came through.

It was a worthwhile movie.

Here's a cast some would have waited a long time to see: Ryan O'Neal,Shelley Long ,Drew Barrymore, Sam Wanamaker. Big Hollywood star, Cheers actress whose never found a film to match the series, Drew Barrymore (any more need to be said) and th great Sam Wanamaker. That alone is enough to watch this film. A lawyer is telling his client the details of the law on divorce. Then the big surprise. Its a young Drew Barrymoere. Her intentions is to divorce her parents. They have become apart due to the pressures of successful careers. Here is a useful warning to all families and this should be required viewing of all newly weds who have high career ambitions. TO make things worse for the parents, Drew wants to leave them both and live with the mind. An empty headed Sharon Stone maid. A real piece of unusual casting and seeing it casts aside the shadow of Stone as nothing else other than Basic Instinct. Here's a TV film with a real and well handled script. Trouble is they take this light comedy into heavier drama and that's its let down. Directors need to be persuaded to leave things as entertainment instead of trying to force blatant social commentary onto the script when the comedy is doing it already. Watch the first half and if you get irritated by the court room drama find something else

Ryan O'Neal plays a tweedy east coast grad student who finds success in Hollywood first as a film editor, then as a writer, and finally as a director in quick succession, thanks in large part to his talented wife (Shelley Long) who is the one who really knows how to write--which makes me wonder how much of this is autobiographical since the script was co-authored by the husband and wife writing team of Charles Shy and Nancy Meyers.

Success immediately goes to his head and O'Neal trades Long in for a younger model (Sharon Stone, in her debut, looking slightly Latino and very cheap, but already in possession of that unique Sharon Stone quality of evil). Long is devastated at being replaced and loses all her self- esteem and unravels. Without his wife, however, O'Neal's scripts are not so good; and of course Stone is only using him to further her own ambitions. His solo film flops and he goes broke, but Long bounces back and writes a revenge best seller...

Drew Barrymore plays the nine-year-old daughter who, finally disgusted with their vanities and being neglected, hires a lawyer and "divorces" her parents for her nanny (the "clever" premise of the film).

The script shows a lot of workmanship, and lectures Hollywood from the pulpit nicely, but starts too slow and is a little too predictable in places. The movie might have worked if somebody else had played the leads. If you can stand Shelley Long, and I've tried and I can't, you might like the movie. Not that Long is on vacation or isn't trying. She tries as hard as she can, and has moments, but any difference between her and the character she played on "Cheers" is not discernible. Well, I take that back. They never put Diane Chambers in a fat suit and had her stuffing herself with half gallons of supermarket ice cream. Ryan O'Neal manages to look a lot like Ron Howard here; perhaps Howard is his idea of a director. And Drew Barrymore, bless her heart, is too goody-goody to be real.

If they could have gotten, say, Meg Ryan and Tom Cruise to play the leads, they might have had a smash. As it is, it's a frustrating movie.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

"Irreconcilable Differences" definitely missed something but I'm not sure what. The acting was great and I thought the story was original. I think it was too much story in one movie, though. I think that most of it was melodramatic and none of it was funny, just depressing. However, I identified with Barrymore's character and I really liked the relationship between Shelley Long and Ryan O'Neal, when they got along. Not enough to recommend it.

Sharon Stone guest stars in Irreconcilable Differences, eight years before bursting to fame and into our consciousness in Basic Instinct. Anyway, this movie is probably more real than we think, with fame, fortune and lust all intertwined.

Maybe this movie can be rebooted, perhaps with British actors. If so, I nominate acclaimed English actor Danny Dyer to play Ryan O'Neal's role.

Why is this billed as a comedy? It isn't even close. The concept might work with a better script and directing. Even the acting is poor; there is no chemistry between Long and O'Neal. A nude Sharon Stone couldn't save this movie!

I didn't know anything about this movie before watching it, except that Drew Barrymore divorces her parents. I think that could be why I found the movie so surprising. But the movie has so many elements that make it one of the strongest films of its type. It's completely engrossing, showing realistically how a marriage can go from highs to lows and that each party can be responsible. It also shows how selfish parents can be and how without realising it they can screw with a child (drew). After watching this film I came to IMDB to see if shelley long or ryan o'neal had won oscars for their performances and if the film won best picture, but apparently it was shunned and not many people have seen it....at least there's cable. It looked like a lot of effort went into making the movie, so it's a shame it's been overlooked.

Drew Barrymoore plays the child of Ryan O'Neal and Shelly Long who sues her parents for divorce because they spend all their time working and fighting.

THe media hears of this and takes advantage of it. Drew is charming in her role. Also features Sharon Stone as the other woman. Her topless scene is worth the price of rental alone.. A movie that will make you smile but you will forget about it an hour later 4 of 10

Ryan O'Neal and Shelley Long are perfectly matched in this movie about a couple in a marriage that falls apart due to family vs. career. An eight year old Drew Barrymore is very impressive as a child who attempts to divorce her parents because they neglect her. Thrown in for good measure is an intrepid look at the movie business and an early vixen like performance from Sharon Stone as the home wrecker.

This film is very balanced in its look at all the subjects involved. A very under rated movie that contains some acute observations about life's priorities (or lack of them).

Irreconcilable Differences is one of the best movies of the 80s and quite possibly the most underrated love story ever made. For whatever reason, audiences chose to ignore this well-written and well-acted gem in 1984. I think it may have been due to the marketing campaign -- they tried to sell it as a cutesy gimmick movie where a precocious child "divorces" her parents. But that isn't what this movie is about at all. This movie is able to provide strong commentary about failed relationships, especially when egos, power, and greed substitute for the things that should really matter in a person's life. In addition, it creates a viable love story that doesn't resort to typical Hollywood formulas when it creates the conflicts that may or may not separate these two people who we know belong with each other. We the audience get to see them actually fall in love on the screen before our very eyes. You would think this should be fairly standard, but how many movies can you recall (especially recently) that you can say that about? This is done through great acting, writing, and directing. Notice how Shelley Long's voice changes over the years as she goes through the various changes in her life. Watch Ryan O'Neal's eyes toward the end as you can actually see an inner peace that he never had earlier.

These are just a few of the great things I loved about this great, heartwarming, and underappreciated film. If you want a great love story with some very good comic and dramatic moments as well, rent this movie! You won't regret it.

Drew Barrymore is probably one of the youngest actresses to receive a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in this film. This role came after her ET fame, remember her as little Gertie. Pity the other stars in that Spielberg film never became the household name that surprisingly that Drew has accomplished. She has got quite a pedigree with the Barrymore legacy. Despite her personal problems, Drew really is a solid actress with a lifetime behind her. Anyway, I never saw this film until Sunday. I remember it being out but I have to say when I was 11 years old, I wanted to be Drew Barrymore (that was before I knew what happened to her). So I guess, I didn't watch it out of envy. I like the casting of Shelley Long who is probably one of the greatest female comediennes of our time who never gets enough work in my opinion to let her talents shine. She can do both drama and comedy equally well. She combines them both in this role as a desperate housewife turned writer. I like the way the film is set up with blame on both father and mother. Sharon Stone debuts in this film too. Ryan O'Neal is worth mentioning because I don't think he was acting in this film. It just hit too close to home. SO you want a good comedy from the eighties, this is pretty good. It's probably a classic compared to contemporary comedy that has become both vulgar and profane.

Say what you will about the Shyer-Meyers team ("Private Benjamin", "Father Of The Bride", "Baby Boom"), they know how to craft a movie, often exploiting every ounce of sentiment from their scripts. "Irreconcilable Differences" is somewhat of a departure for them however, a depiction of neurotic movie people, denizens of Hollywood, who have hardly any good points. As soon as the young couple finds success, it's a rich road downhill. The plot set-up has youngster Drew Barrymore trying to emancipate herself away from her famous mom and dad, and the H-Wood high-life is shown as both cause and effect. A terrific sequence involving Sharon Stone in a quasi-musical version of "Gone With The Wind" is satiric comic genius, yet the movie is so hard on its players, so brittle and tough, it's difficult to shake off the bad vibes even as the third act winds down to a sunny conclusion. Perceptively, the screenplay includes many awful (and awfully funny) truths about marriage, money and careers, but the cynical undermining of the picture may put fluff-oriented viewers off. ***1/2 from ****

Someone above said she's not real in this. I thought she was very real. Her closing comments to the court are priceless and truthful. Also funny and dramatic is star Shelley Long, who is sunk with bad hairstyles and colors throughout the film. Did she tee off the film's stylist? Ryan's excellent and looks hot. Sharon Stone's the funniest I've ever seen her. My favorite line: "Dammit, Dottie this Tab is warm! Really mother, for $600 a week I expect you to know the difference between hot and cold!" This film's comments on the Hollywood scene are great because Charles Shyer & Nancy Meyers have lived it. Underrated. DVD, please. p.s. Closing song is dated and maudlin, badly performed by Sinatra. Written by Peter Allen & Carole Bayer Sager. "You & Me (We Wanted It All)".

I originally saw this movie in 1985 with my kids and of course, we loved it! We were living in India at the time and videos were our only link to American culture. Fortunatley we had a copy (no comment). We probably saw it 30 or 40 times over the years. When Blake starts singing during the scene in the Gone With The Wind take off, Atlanta, I have tears rolling down my cheeks. Later in the film you see the heartbreaking reality of many a child's life growing up in Hollywood. Money aplenty but no quality time with family. The premise is so sad and Drew Barrymore is so poignant - truly showed what a talented kid she was and sadly she seems to have been living very much the same way her character was in the film. Finally, I too, would join in campaign to get this out on DVD! Why hasn't it been released? Could it be the heights to which Sharon Stone rose on the stardom scale? Who knows but if you ever have a chance to see this movie, clear your schedule and sit down and watch it.

"Irreconcilable Differences" is a very good seriocomedy about a Hollywood couple who are sued for divorce by their 9 year-old daughter. Ryan O'Neal, Shelley Long, and Drew Barrymore are well cast as the family torn apart by career, jealousy, and a little girl caught in the middle who just can't take it anymore with her parents' constant fighting. So as a result, she takes them to court, and the three members of the family tell their story (shown in flashback). Directed by Charles Shyer from a screenplay by Shyer and Nancy Meyers, "Irreconcilable Differences" shows us what its like to be in the Hollywood film industry which is fascinatingly detailed here. One hilarious scene is the part when acclaimed film director O'Neal is shooting a movie which appears to be a musical remake of "Gone With The Wind". A very young Sharon Stone stars as the actress playing the character modeled after Scarlett O'Hara. I was cracking up during that scene because it's naturally funny. But there are touching moments too, especially the early scenes when the O'Neal and Long characters first meet. Plus the scenes after they have their daughter are sweet and tender. "Irreconcilable Differences" is an underrated movie that deserved more attention than it received when released in 1984. It's a well-acted, well-written film.

*** (out of four)

This is a movie that everyone can understand. It explains my, as am I certain, many different parts of people's childhoods. It is worth watching because it shows how adults affect the world. Please, if you are a parent, watch this movie so that you can understand how important you are to your child. This move shows how a parent can mold the child, and vice versas.

If you love Drew Barrymore you absolutely have to get this movie she is so cute in this movie. I've really never forgotten this movie. Other than the far fetched conceit of a little girl trying to divorce her famous parents, it's a very clever story, well written and funny. It's a thinly veiled recounting of the rise and fall (and rise) of director Peter Bogdanovich and his first wife Polly Platt. Ryan O'Neal and Shelley Long both give strong performances.

Also the talent behind the camera is amazing. This film also has a brilliant comedic performance by Sharon Stone. It was one of her first roles. In fact I became a fan of hers because of this film. I also have the poster of this film hanging on my wall. The movie was funny and enjoyable to watch. The one nude scene is surprising in a movie of that era. It was brief and unexpected. You might miss it if not paying close attention.

Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

A very funny look at Hollywood in general and Hollywood marriages specifically. Don't miss the fabulous musical version of "Gone With the Wind" that the producer, Albert, (Ryan O'Neal) sinks "every last dime" into, so his spoiled lover (Sharon Stone) can sing off-key howlers like:

"This Civil War, ain't gonna get me down, I'm moving my act, to a brand new town..."

A highly under rated film and a perfect role for the young Ms. Stone, who though hardly recognizable as a redhead, appears to be perfectly cast as a narcissistic, husband stealing, twit.