Modern Romance

R

Released Mar 13, 1981

1h 33m

Comedy

List

83%

23 Reviews

Tomatometer

71%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

A film editor (Albert Brooks) breaks up and makes up with his girlfriend (Kathryn Harrold), unsure if he is in love.

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Critics Consensus

Modern Romance contains all the hallmarks of Albert Brooks' best work: darkly funny, confrontational, and chock full of pithy observations about human behavior.

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Audience Member

The great Albert Brooks in a never ending string of delightful romantic comedies. Here he plays film editor Robert Cole. He breaks up with his girlfriend Mary but continuously reconciles with her. There's a limit to how much of his disruptive antics she can take. Can Robert actually figure out what he wants? Being that he's jealous and self-centered they can't seem to be on the same page. This is the kind of modern romance that's all kinds of complicated. I love Albert Brooks but a majority of this was a slog to get through. The couples' romance is barely focused on until the very end. It's not fun watching Robert just moseying around attempting to get things back on track or watch his job. This should've been more engaging.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/14/24

Full Review

Alec B

This is probably one of the few examinations of a toxic relationship that doesn't involve physical violence of any kind. The film is uncomfortable from start to finish as what at first seems to be a neurotic neediness in the central character slowly becomes an obsessive narcissism. I respect the hell out of Brooks for casting himself as such a unlikable person.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/10/23

Full Review

jaime h

Albert Brooks is a neurotic comedic genius! This is a must see comedy romance.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

jon c

The great Albert Brooks in a never ending string of delightful romantic comedies. Here he plays film editor Robert Cole. He breaks up with his girlfriend Mary but continuously reconciles with her. There's a limit to how much of his disruptive antics she can take. Can Robert actually figure out what he wants? Being that he's jealous and self-centered they can't seem to be on the same page. This is the kind of modern romance that's all kinds of complicated. I love Albert Brooks but a majority of this was a slog to get through. The couples' romance is barely focused on until the very end. It's not fun watching Robert just moseying around attempting to get things back on track or watch his job. This should've been more engaging.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Anyone that has been in love can relate to the jealousies and neuroses on full display in Albert Brooks's painfully awkward Modern Romance. Coming on like a West Coast counterpart to Woody Allen, Brooks covers much of the same psycho-social territory already explored by Allen during his late 70s heyday, but does so with a self-obsessed tone all his own. Although less ambitious or poetic than Annie Hall or Manhattan, Modern Romance expertly skewers the pervasive shallowness and drug-fueled, creeping materialism taking root in Southern California's monied class during that time. Only Brooks could make such cringe-inducing moments so eminently watchable.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This film doesn't go anywhere and doesn't evolve over time. I wanted to watch this because Judd Apatow recommended it in his book when he interviewed Brooks; Brooks from the interview seems to be a very intelligent and cultured man but the film misses its beats and has many scenes that aren't needed. You don't care about the relationship of the two main characters and there's tons of useless dialogue

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

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Albert Brooks

Director

Albert Brooks

Robert Cole

Kathryn Harrold

Mary Harvard

Bruno Kirby

Jay

Tyann Means

Waitress

Jane Hallaren

Ellen

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Gary Arnold

Washington Post

Likely to interest only those who wish Brooks well and don't mind making extravagant allowances.

May 1, 2018

Full Review

Derek Adams

Time Out

Extremely funny, ultra-hip and alarmingly insightful.

Jun 24, 2006

Full Review

Fernando F. Croce

Slant Magazine

Nearly as much as Jerry Lewis, Albert Brooks's comic persona is defined by its unlikability.

Rated: 3.5/4

May 3, 2006

Full Review

Mitchell Beaupre

Paste Magazine

Billed as a comedy, Brooks deceptively hides in Modern Romance a scathing indictment of toxic masculinity akin to Agnès Varda’s Le Bonheur and Michelangelo Antonioni’s La Notte.

Rated: 10/10

Mar 25, 2024

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...an uneven yet mostly rewarding comedy that stands as one of Brooks' better directorial efforts, ultimately.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 14, 2020

Full Review

David Kaplan

Kaplan vs. Kaplan

Rated: 3/5

Mar 1, 2008

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

A film editor (Albert Brooks) breaks up and makes up with his girlfriend (Kathryn Harrold), unsure if he is in love.

Director: Albert Brooks
Screenwriter: Albert Brooks, Monica McGowan Johnson
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 13, 1981, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2013
Runtime: 1h 33m
Sound Mix: Stereo

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