Funny About Love
Gene Wilder has a confused look on his face as an infant sits on his head holding a clock
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLeonard Nimoy
Written byNorman Steinberg
David Frankel
Based on"Convention of the Love Goddesses"[1] in Esquire Magazine by Bob Greene
Produced byJon Avnet
Jordan Kerner
Starring
CinematographyFred Murphy
Edited byPeter E. Berger
Music byMiles Goodman
Production
companies
Duffy Films
Avnet/Kerner Productions
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • September 21, 1990 (1990-09-21)
Running time
101 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$8.1 million[3]
image icon Farrah Fawcett, "Funny About Love", publicity still[4]
image icon Gene Wilder, Farrah Fawcett, "Funny About Love", publicity still[5]
image icon Mary Stuart Masterson, Gene Wilder, Christine Lahti and Farrah Fawcett. "Funny About Love", publicity still[6]
image icon Gene Wilder, Farrah Fawcett, "Funny About Love", publicity still[7]

Funny About Love is a 1990 American romantic comedy film directed by Leonard Nimoy and starring Gene Wilder in his first romantic lead.[8] With a screenplay by Norman Steinberg and David Frankel, the film is based on the article "Convention of the Love Goddesses"[1] in Esquire Magazine by Bob Greene.[9]

Plot

New York cartoonist Duffy Bergman marries gourmet chef Meg Lloyd.[10] Meg wants to have a baby. Duffy agrees, but after unsuccessful attempts, Duffy encourages her to focus on her career and come back to the child issue later. After his mother's death, however, Duffy becomes fixated on wanting to have a child. Meg no longer sees this as a priority, as she's trying to open her own restaurant. The two start to have marital problems, leading to a separation.

Duffy travels to Arizona to speak at a Delta Gamma sorority convention. He explains that the Delta Gammas have always been his dream girls—his Love Goddesses. There he meets the much younger Daphne Delillo, and when she moves to New York to work as a network sports reporter, their attraction develops into a relationship. Daphne becomes pregnant. Duffy is happy to father a child, but uncomfortable with how fast this relationship is progressing. When she has a miscarriage, Daphne breaks up with him, believing that they were really staying in the relationship for the baby.

At his father's wedding, Duffy hears news about Meg and decides to go to her restaurant. He tries to reconcile with her, insisting that he doesn't care if they remain childless as long as he can be with her. Duffy discovers that Meg has adopted a baby boy.

Cast

Post Production

The film was originally produced with Gene Wilder's character having three love interests - Christine Lahti, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Farrah Fawcett. After test screenings, a decision was made to cut all of Fawcett's scenes and re-edit.[11][12] These edits were late in the production process, and it is believed that some promotional material was distributed with incorrect information.[13] Fawcett is not credited in the movie.

Release

Box office

Funny About Love opened in 1,213 theaters on September 21, 1990 and grossed $3,036,352 in its opening weekend, landing at #5, behind Goodfellas, Postcards from the Edge's second weekend, Ghost's eleventh, and Narrow Margin.[14] The film would eventually gross $8,141,292 in the domestic box office.[3]

Critical reception

The film was panned by critics.[15] Based on 7 reviews, the film has a 0% rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.[16]

Janet Maslin of the New York Times gave the film a mixed review.

Infertility, divorce and loneliness shape the rambling plot, but they somehow do little to make the film substantial...... Once the film settles down to follow Duffy and Meg in their eager efforts to conceive a baby, it develops at least some recognizable emotional content.[17]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times had nothing but disdain for the film, giving it only a half of a star rating out of the four stars scale he utilized.

Funny About Love provides an opportunity to spend 101 minutes in the presence of the most cloying, inane and annoying dialogue I've heard in many a moon, punctuated only by occasional lapses into startling bad manners.[18]

Gene Siskel was also scathing in his review on Siskel and Ebert’s show At the Movies, remarking that unusually for him, during the screening of the film he stood up in horror at one scene taking place at a sporting event, and said to Ebert: “I’ve seen it all.”

References

  1. 1 2
    • Greene, Bob (October 1986). "Convention of the Love Goddesses". Esquire Archive. Archived from the original on October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
    • Greene, Bob (October 1986). "Print Article: Convention of the Love Goddesses". Esquire Archive. Archived from the original on October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Funny About Love". United International Pictures. British Board of Film Classification. October 26, 1990. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Funny About Love (1990)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Farrah Fawcett's Hair Evolution". L'Officiel USA. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  5. ↑ "A decade in pictures: Iconic stories, photos and covers of the 1990s". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Funny About Love (1990) RARE ORIG 2 1/2 X 3 TRANS". worthpoint. Archived from the original on October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  7. ↑ "FUNNY ABOUT LOVE - ORIG. STILL". worthpoint. Archived from the original on October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  8. ↑ Wallace, David (September 22, 1990). "Gene Wilder on his first turn as a romantic lead in 'Funny About Love'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  9. ↑ Bekman, Stas. "564 Funny About Love (1990)". stason.org. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Funny About Love". FulvueDrive-In.com. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  11. ↑ Greene, Bob. "Commentary: Farrah in the morning". CNN. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Farrah Gets a Cut". Los Angeles Times. September 23, 1990. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Tanglewood Mall Cinema". The Roanoke Times. No. File 1990. February 7, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Weekend Box Office Results for September 21–23, 1990". Box Office Mojo. June 9, 2010. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  15. ↑ Keenan, Dorothy. "Review: 'Funny About Love' Is Just That A Warm, Witty Romance, Despite The Narrow Plot". Buffalo News. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Funny About Love". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  17. ↑ Maslin, Janet (September 21, 1990). "Funny About Love :: nytimes.com :: Reviews". nytimes.com. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  18. ↑ "Funny About Love :: Reviews". Rogerebert.com. September 21, 1990. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
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