Neil Simon’s Only When I Laugh

Directed by Glenn Jordan, Neil Simon’s Only When I Laugh follows Marsha Mason’s Georgia Hines as she attempts to get her life and career back on track after emerging from a stint in rehab. There’s little doubt, ultimately, that Neil Simon’s Only When I Laugh improves steadily (and substantially) as it progresses, as the movie suffers from an stagy, talky first act that’s exacerbated by Jordan’s lackadaisical approach and an surfeit of broad, unfunny one-liners. (It’s too bad, certainly, given that the movie kicks off with a promising opening shot in which Georgia lays out her various issues to her shrink.) The strength of Mason and her costars’ top-notch efforts go a long way towards keeping things interesting even through the picture’s more overtly lackluster stretches, to be sure, and it’s clear, as well, that the movie’s mid-narrative shift into full melodrama territory paves the way for a surprisingly watchable second half littered with engaging scenes and sequences – including an unexpectedly absorbing interlude wherein Georgia relapses during a birthday party attended by close friends and her concerned daughter (Kristy McNichol’s Polly). The aggressively overlong running time does, however, dull the impact of certain happenings contained within the film’s final half hour, which ultimately cements Neil Simon’s Only When I Laugh‘s place as a watchable yet frustratingly erratic endeavor that probably should’ve topped out at 90 minutes.

**1/2 out of ****

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