Modern Romance

Directed by Albert Brooks, Modern Romance explores the rocky relationship between Brooks’ Robert Cole and Kathryn Harrold’s Mary Harvard and the degree to which his myriad of neuroses affect their on-again-off-again coupling. Filmmaker Brooks, working from a script written with Monica Johnson, kicks Modern Romance off with an absolutely note-perfect opening that brilliantly establishes the central characters and their somewhat unhealthy dynamic, with the movie, past that point, seguing into a somewhat erratic midsection revolving predominantly around Robert’s various exploits – including his ongoing work as a film editor and his efforts at moving on from Harrold’s patient figure. (The latter results in one of the picture’s very best scenes, as Robert is essentially bullied into buying hundreds of dollars of workout gear from Bob Einstein’s aggressive salesman.) It’s not surprising, then, that Modern Romance suffers from a rather hit-and-miss feel that is, admittedly, alleviated by Brooks’ captivating performance and sporadically spellbinding visuals, and there’s little doubt, as well, that the movie benefits substantially from its often trenchant perspective on contemporary relationships (although, by that same token, it’s awfully difficult to believe that Mary wouldn’t have cut Robert loose a long time ago) – with the end result an uneven yet mostly rewarding comedy that stands as one of Brooks’ better directorial efforts, ultimately.

*** out of ****