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A New Life

Play trailer Poster for A New Life PG-13 1988 1h 44m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
33% Tomatometer 9 Reviews 26% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Affluent New Yorkers (Alan Alda, Ann-Margret) divorce after many years, then meet new and younger mates on the singles scene.
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A New Life

Critics Reviews

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Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 01/01/2000
3/4
Alda's purpose is to show us fairly typical people going through fairly typical things. They live, we watch. On that voyeuristic level, the movie works. Go to Full Review
David Nusair Reel Film Reviews 02/20/2023
2.5/4
...a familiar premise that’s employed to erratic yet mostly engaging effect... Go to Full Review
Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) 07/01/2022
Nothing new, otherwise a predictable preamble to Steve and Jackie declaring themselves defeated and returning to their plucked conjugal nest. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Chuck O'Leary FulvueDrive-in.com 05/07/2007
3/5
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 07/07/2005
2/5
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat Spirituality & Practice 08/27/2004
1/5
Has little of importance to say about marriage, divorce, or the dating game. And the four lead characters are thoroughly uninteresting. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Steve D 03/02/2023 I never cared about any of them. See more 05/20/2016 Divorced couple starts new separate lives apart. Film progresses rapidly (but perhaps by necessity) from divorce, dating, new relationship, marriage and then parenthood in short order. Alda wrote and directed this film which may be best received by members of the MASH and BARNEY MILLER generation. See more 03/11/2016 Alan Alan wrote, directed, and starred in this film about a recently divorced stock broker adjusting to single life and missing married life. Not terrible but can't say it's particularly good. Often predicatable fare about the troubles of reentering the dating scene after years away from it. See more 01/15/2015 Passes the test of time with flying colors, starting over is hard. See more 06/20/2014 Alan Alda was such an iconic television star that the jump to movies was inevitable, and for the most part his films as writer, director and star were quite good. With "A New Life", however, he stumbles a bit trying to enter Woody Allen territory and while the end result is certainly watchable enough it feels more like a TV movie than a theatrical effort. Alda's character would seem better suited to Allen himself or maybe Billy Crystal, and the first half of the picture suffers from wild mood swings. The comedy doesn't work, especially some peculiar moments of broad comedy such as Alda being mugged by a transvestite. He fares better with the drama, which is why the film's second half improves some. There are some nice bittersweet moments here, and if it had been written bolder and not like a movie-of-the-week, there might have been enough to save the picture. I appreciated the way that the couple's new relationships had their share of problems, it makes the movie feel authentic. Alda is a fine actor, even if it does take a bit here to accept his overly pompous character, and Ann-Margret is as luminous as ever. You can't fault how Alda cast his film, but you can find fault with him as a screenwriter. By the time the film finds its footing and I became involved in it as a drama, everything is once again undone by the trite, abrupt ending wraps things up way too quickly and conveniently. "A New Life" isn't necessarily a horrible film, but its full potential is never fully realized. This never should have been a comedic film, and while it does recover from its rocky start, the ending disappoints as well. See more 03/24/2013 It's a terrible movie with characters and a plot you ultimately don't give a crap about. It's not funny nor is it really worth watching. See more Read all reviews
A New Life

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Movie Info

Synopsis Affluent New Yorkers (Alan Alda, Ann-Margret) divorce after many years, then meet new and younger mates on the singles scene.
Director
Alan Alda
Producer
Martin Bregman
Screenwriter
Alan Alda
Production Co
Paramount Pictures
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 5, 1988, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 27, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$7.4M
Runtime
1h 44m
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