Bette Midler’s last film, “The First Wives Club,” was an exaggerated, unbelievable mess. It was so bad because it took a perfectly acceptable, enjoyable plot, and twisted all the believable parts so far from reality that it was annoying to watch.
“That Old Feeling,” Bette’s current film, came within inches of doing the same thing.
This movie takes a somewhat normal, lifelike situation and makes the mistake of presenting most of the characters as hopelessly one-dimensional, cartoon-like characters. All of these characters are funny for about ten minutes, and then lose their allure.
The flaw in this is that the humor in this film is all that keeps it afloat. Several charming, touching romances are attempted, but none are quite successful enough to carry the film.
The plot: Bette Midler and Dennis Farina, after not seeing each other for fourteen years, are forced to confront each other at their daughter’s wedding. After an initial spat, they rekindle their old flame, and run away from their present spouses.
Their daughter’s new husband, though, is running for congress, and fears that his “family values” platform might be compromised by adulterous in-laws. So, while trying to comfort the two deserted spouses, he desperately attempts to track down the couple, and keep them out of the tabloids.
Thinking that she can help, the daughter takes this task upon herself, enlisting the help of a paparazzi that has tracked her mom for years. When she finally tracks them down, predictability kicks in, and everyone falls in love with, or sleeps with (or both) someone who is they aren’t married to.
The surprise joy in this film is Dennis Farina. After a fairly successful career as a character actor (his appearance in “Get Shorty” is one of the best in the film) this is his first appearance as a leading man. I never would’ve thought it possible, but he stole the spotlight from Midler.
He is the only character that is allowed to have any depth, and he takes advantage of it. Everyone else, especially Danny Nucci as a paparazzi with a heart, plays their stereotypes with style, but never really get beyond that.
As might be expected, “That Old Feeling” is good for a lot of laughs. The interaction between Midler and Farina is outrageous enough to be funny, and the even more outrageous storyline turns out some obvious, but still hilarious, one-liners.
Anyone hoping for a romance, though, will be horribly disappointed, though. This film has just about as much to do with romance as “Liar, Liar” has to do with courtroom drama. But, it you might enjoy laughing at “That Old Feeling,” and saving your romantic ambitions for “The English Patient.”
Grade: C+