Irreconcilable Differences

Directed by Charles Shyer, Irreconcilable Differences follows a young girl (Drew Barrymore’s Casey) as she sues her career-driven parents (Ryan O’Neal’s Albert and Shelley Long’s Lucy for emancipation. Filmmaker Shyer, armed with his and Nancy Meyers’ screenplay, delivers a slightly overlong yet mostly engrossing piece of work that fares best in its engaging, briskly-paced first half, as the movie, which unfolds largely in flashback, does an effective job of initially establishing O’Neal and Long’s respective characters and their burgeoning romantic coupling – with the watchable vibe heightened by Shyer’s ongoing emphasis on Albert’s efforts at moving his way up the Hollywood ladder (ie the picture succeeds purely as a fascinating behind-the-scenes Tinseltown drama). It’s somewhat disappointing to note, then, that Irreconcilable Differences eventually progresses into a comparatively meandering and padded-out midsection, as Shyer’s decision to focus on Albert and Lucy’s increasingly fractured relationship wreaks a fair degree of havoc on the movie’s momentum and its impossible not to wish that this portion of the proceedings had been significantly streamlined. Still, Irreconcilable Differences predominantly comes off as a stirring endeavor that benefits strongly from the top-notch efforts of its various performers – with the three leads’ sterling work certainly matched by such eclectic periphery players as Sharon Stone, Sam Wanamaker, and Allen Garfield.

*** out of ****