Author! Author!

PG

Released Jun 18, 1982

1h 50m

Comedy

List

50%

6 Reviews

Tomatometer

49%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

While struggling playwright Ivan Travalian (Al Pacino) tries to get movie actress Alice Detroit (Dyan Cannon) to star in his new Broadway show, his personal life spins out of control. Bored with their marriage, Ivan's wife, Gloria (Tuesday Weld), leaves him -- but she leaves him with not only their son but her children from previous marriages. As Ivan attempts to rewrite the second act of his play to his own satisfaction, he finds himself in the unfamiliar position of being a single parent.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

That unwillingness to really be about its characters is fatal to Author! Author!

Rated: 2/4

May 8, 2019

Full Review

Judy Stone

San Francisco Examiner

A felicitously funny collaboration. New York to the core.

Rated: 4/4

Nov 11, 2021

Full Review

F.X. Feeney

L.A. Weekly

There are no easy answers. And thankfully, Horovitz doesn't fake any; he lets us savor his hero's difficulty, at the same time taking a sharp, funny and satiric look at the Broadway and New York literary crowds.

Nov 10, 2021

Full Review

Octavi Marti

El Pais (Spain)

The plot never progresses. [Full Review in Spanish]

Aug 30, 2019

Full Review

Camille Kittrell

Sojourner

The message isn't extremely profound, which is too bad because as a whole, the film is somewhat lousy.

Aug 19, 2019

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...a subdued and often exceedingly deliberate drama that nevertheless remains quite watchable for the duration of its (overlong) running time...

Rated: 3/4

Sep 25, 2002

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Michael B

"Author, Author," has improved with age because of its top shelf casting, honest performances and a heart of gold story of a New York orphan. Flawed? Not really as this film was ahead of its time. Why? 1982 audiences would not have connected as well with the blended family and modern relationships between kids and the parents they choose.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

06/29/23

Full Review

andrew p

This film is full of raw emotion, very well acted and an interesting storyline of a man on the verge of a life crises. He is simultaneously on the verge of a breakdown trying to juggle his failing marriage, custody of children, career and a new relationship with a woman. Al Pacino and the children of this movie give a convincing performance. The movie also mixes drama with comedy.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Al Pacino is Ivan, the the author of his own life or is he? As a struggling playwright Ivan Travalian tries to get movie actress Alice Detroit (Dyan Cannon) to star in his new Broadway show, his personal life spins out of control Bored with their marriage, Ivan's wife, Gloria (Tuesday Weld), leaves him -- but she leaves him with not only their son but her children from previous marriages. As Ivan attempts to rewrite the second act of his play to his own satisfaction, he finds himself in the unfamiliar position of being a single parent Pacino plays the part well, I actually really like the kid actors too because they're almost on the same wavelength, and the film plays almost like a stage play in itself But it's not drab or sluggish like most of its kind We can't treat the people in our lives like characters in a play, there's stage drama and there's real-life drama, someone has to be the author of their own messy lives It's a subdued and often exceedingly deliberate drama that nevertheless remains quite watchable thanks to Pacino's commitment It's clear that there are no easy answers And thankfully, writer Israel Horovitz doesn't fake any; he lets us savor his hero's difficulty, at the same time taking a sharp, funny and satiric look at the Broadway and New York literary crowds

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

Full Review

steve d

Its cute but it isn't among Al Pacino's best.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Arthur Hiller was the king of feel-good cheese, and Author! Author! is so textbook that it might as well have been called Arthur! Arthur! The ending says it all... it's a rave review! Cue the corny music. I give it one star because Pacino delivers a brave performance and there's some decent child acting. How ironic, though, that a film called "Author! Author!" has such a horrendous screenplay!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Sandwiched between the controversial Cruising and the controversial Scarface lies this Al Pacino vehicle that finds him as a dysfunctional play write, juggling a dead marriage, a house full of kids, and a fully backed play perpetually looking for its 3rd act. AP stars as Ivan Travalian, the atypical New York writer who comes home one day to find that his wife (TW) has left, leaving kids from various marriages throughout the house. Hilarity ensues as Ivan struggles to maintain a household, a career, and figure out whether or not he still loves his wife or the star of his play (DC). Author! Author! feels like a sitcom. I mean it really feels like a sitcom to the point that you'll be in hysterics at the title theme song. Pure Friday night on ABC drivel that doesn't really go anywhere, just spinning around in circles. The only thing that progresses in this film is the play. Everyone is in the same place as they were in the film, with Pacino epiphany being unheralded and lacking everything. Tuesday Weld plays her role as sympathetic to start, then you just don't care about the selfish.... Dyan Cannon is the rebound and pretty much disappears when her part of the story is over, which is sadly the best part of the film. If they could have dove into their relationship and how another adult deals with the offspring of another it would have made this film much more interesting. But it abandons that idea half way into it. Did AP lose his way after the greatness of his 70's films? It's hard to say, but AA is an unexcited, dull adventure into divorce

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

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Arthur Hiller

Director

Al Pacino

Ivan Travalian

Dyan Cannon

Alice Detroit

Tuesday Weld

Gloria Travalian

Alan King

Kreplich

Bob Dishy

Morris Finestein

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Synopsis

While struggling playwright Ivan Travalian (Al Pacino) tries to get movie actress Alice Detroit (Dyan Cannon) to star in his new Broadway show, his personal life spins out of control. Bored with their marriage, Ivan's wife, Gloria (Tuesday Weld), leaves him -- but she leaves him with not only their son but her children from previous marriages. As Ivan attempts to rewrite the second act of his play to his own satisfaction, he finds himself in the unfamiliar position of being a single parent.

Director: Arthur Hiller
Screenwriter: Israel Horovitz
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: 20th Century Fox
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 18, 1982, Original
Release Date (DVD): Jun 19, 2007
Runtime: 1h 50m