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Starting Over

Play trailer Poster for Starting Over R 1979 1h 46m Romance Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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75% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 59% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
When his wife, Jessica (Candice Bergen), leaves him for a chance at a music career, Phil Potter (Burt Reynolds) is devastated. He moves from New York City to Boston, joins a club for divorced men and cautiously begins an affair with a free-spirited schoolteacher named Marilyn (Jill Clayburgh), who genuinely seems to care about him. But when Jessica decides she wants Phil back, he jumps at the chance, only to wonder if perhaps he's made the wrong choice.
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Starting Over

Critics Reviews

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Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 12/17/2020
2/4
Starting Over actually feels sort of embarrassed at times, maybe because characters are placed in silly sitcom situations and then forced to say lines that are supposed to be revealing and real. Go to Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 05/14/2024
2/4
A “meet-cute” is just fine for this sort of picture, but the “meet-cute” between the writer and the teacher turns into a “talk-cute,” “date-cute,” “argue-cute,” and so on. Go to Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews 03/16/2022
2.5/4
...benefits from its assortment of first-class performances... Go to Full Review Jesús Fernández Santos El Pais (Spain) 08/12/2019
The scenes are funny and nuanced, with a touch of irony that is relatively original. [Full Review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Tim Brayton Antagony & Ecstasy 10/20/2009
8/10
A better story than you'd probably expect for a film of this kind of this vintage. Go to Full Review Lori Hoffman Atlantic City Weekly 02/05/2007
4/5
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Audience Reviews

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Kim P Nov 4 Reynolds can actually ACT! Bergen singing off-key and Clayburgh crying with snot streaming from her nose shows the commitment these 3 actors made to realism, abandoning their image and not being afraid to show a different side. Pretty interesting, in its way See more steve m 01/16/2023 Insightful movie on how divorce affects the exes. The best part is the ex-wife (Candice Bergen) who portrays a successful songwriter/singer, but the actor sounds like you or me. Good thing the director didn't let her hear herself till the premier. See more steve d 07/15/2020 They should have started the script over from scratch. See more robert b 05/11/2020 One of Burt's best efforts! Why can't we find it on pay per view or cable anywhere? Is it lost? See more 05/07/2020 Unlike any other movie with Burt Reynolds. Well underplayed by him, just right. Excellent script. Subtle jokes. Candice Bergen's off-key singing must have taken a lot of practice to get such a wrong sound so perfect. See more 09/06/2018 What an enjoyable movie and it was nice to see Reynolds play such a vulnerable character. Candice Bergen was great in the movie. As always Charles Durning did a great job in the movie. Who hasn't felt the way, Reynolds felt when he was trying to get the beautiful Candice Bergen back. See more Read all reviews
Starting Over

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Cast & Crew

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Alan J. Pakula

Director

Burt Reynolds

Phil Potter

Jill Clayburgh

Marilyn Holmberg

Candice Bergen

Jessica Potter

Charles Durning

Michael "Mickey" Potter

Frances Sternhagen

Marva Potter

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Starting Over

Starting Over (1979) Starting Over (1979) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis When his wife, Jessica (Candice Bergen), leaves him for a chance at a music career, Phil Potter (Burt Reynolds) is devastated. He moves from New York City to Boston, joins a club for divorced men and cautiously begins an affair with a free-spirited schoolteacher named Marilyn (Jill Clayburgh), who genuinely seems to care about him. But when Jessica decides she wants Phil back, he jumps at the chance, only to wonder if perhaps he's made the wrong choice.
Director
Alan J. Pakula
Producer
Alan J. Pakula, James L. Brooks
Screenwriter
James L. Brooks
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Paramount
Rating
R
Genre
Romance, Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 5, 1979, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2017
Runtime
1h 46m
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