Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

Starting Over

R Released Oct 5, 1979 1h 46m Romance Comedy List
75% Tomatometer 8 Reviews 58% 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.
Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

Where to Watch

Starting Over

Critics Reviews

View All (8) Critics Reviews
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 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. Rated: 2/4 Dec 17, 2020 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 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. Rated: 2/4 May 14, 2024 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...benefits from its assortment of first-class performances... Rated: 2.5/4 Mar 16, 2022 Full Review Jesús Fernández Santos El Pais (Spain) The scenes are funny and nuanced, with a touch of irony that is relatively original. [Full Review in Spanish] Aug 12, 2019 Full Review Tim Brayton Antagony & Ecstasy A better story than you'd probably expect for a film of this kind of this vintage. Rated: 8/10 Oct 20, 2009 Full Review Lori Hoffman Atlantic City Weekly Rated: 4/5 Feb 5, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (40) audience reviews
steve m 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. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review steve d They should have started the script over from scratch. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review robert b One of Burt's best efforts! Why can't we find it on pay per view or cable anywhere? Is it lost? Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member 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. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review william k 70s relationship drama, humorous, lively and with a good cast, but not particularly memorable. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member 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. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Starting Over

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Coming to America 73% 85% Coming to America TRAILER for Coming to America 200 Cigarettes 30% 59% 200 Cigarettes 10 65% 56% 10 Valley Girl 84% 71% Valley Girl No Small Affair 57% 35% No Small Affair Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

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
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
Most Popular at Home Now