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An Unmarried Woman

Play trailer Poster for An Unmarried Woman R Released Mar 5, 1978 2h 5m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
89% Tomatometer 28 Reviews 73% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
An attractive and well-to-do New Yorker, Erica Benton (Jill Clayburgh), finds her comfortable existence upended when her husband, Martin (Michael Murphy), ends their marriage and takes up with a younger woman. Hurt and angered by her husband's betrayal, Erica slowly begins to reevaluate her life and explore her newfound freedom. Eventually, she starts a relationship with an English artist named Saul (Alan Bates), but is wary of repeating past mistakes.
An Unmarried Woman

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Critics Consensus

Jill Clayburgh is wondrous as a woman who loses her marriage -- only to find herself -- in this acutely observed and lived-in portrait of New York City life.

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Critics Reviews

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Simran Hans New Statesman Clayburgh is luminous as Erica, wounded and stumbling, yet somehow graceful. Oct 7, 2020 Full Review Bob Thomas Associated Press An Unmarried Woman explores the emotional turmoil of an abandoned wife with rare wit and perception. Jul 8, 2019 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Clayburgh takes chances in this movie. She's out on an emotional limb. She's letting us see and experience things that many actresses simply couldn't reveal. Rated: 4/4 Jun 15, 2018 Full Review Chase Burns The Stranger (Seattle, WA) Clayburgh is dazzlingly frank. She carries a poker face when around the film's men. All her largest emotions are kept for herself. It's thrilling. I miss her. Jan 20, 2022 Full Review Jill Nicholls Spare Rib It's just another of those films made by a man with women in mind. Sep 22, 2021 Full Review Kathey Clarey Fresno Bee Jill Clayburgh portrays the woman, vulnerable, confused, and trying to be independent. It is a perfectly delightful performance from this polished young actress. Aug 5, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (82) audience reviews
barbara l Love this movie. Wish I could see it again. Very realistic honest account of a woman who loses her marriage and finds herself again. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/06/23 Full Review Isla E An Unmarried Woman should have been unseen by my tender eyes. However I have to say it was a really good movie even for a child under 11. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/01/23 Full Review Audience Member In 2022 this film seems a tad dated. However, being a "70s person," I feel it captures the era in an almost time capsule-like approach. The setting, the music, and the "women vs. status quo" storyline are very realistic for 1978. Personally, I think Jill Clayburgh deserved the Oscar for Best Actress. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Love this film. Jill Clayburgh is brilliant is this touching, funny, nuanced exploration of a film by Paul Mazursky. This film was right on time when it came out, and still holds up today. A must see Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Thoroughly independent in its financing and creation, An Unmarried Woman nevertheless has a certain tactile urban scope that opens the movie beyond what could, in other hands, be a walled-in drama. Critically, it goes down more the way a comedy would; somehow light on its ballet feet and altogether digestible, but devoid of one-liners or gags. This is Mazursky's ingenious touch as writer/director. Paraphrasing author Sam Wasson in his new, brief video interview contained on the recent Criterion Blu-ray edition as a bonus feature, Mazursky wasn't the most cinematic of filmmakers, nor was he the funniest. But he understood human ticks and foibles in raw, real, and subtle ways, and knew how to put his actors at ease enough to deliver these key things through their performances. At the same time, it's a tight film, devoid of that "improv-y" decompression that haunts the work of Judd Apatow and other later filmmakers who sometimes lean into his style. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review steve d There wasn't enough story here and the characters were not well developed. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews
An Unmarried Woman

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Movie Info

Synopsis An attractive and well-to-do New Yorker, Erica Benton (Jill Clayburgh), finds her comfortable existence upended when her husband, Martin (Michael Murphy), ends their marriage and takes up with a younger woman. Hurt and angered by her husband's betrayal, Erica slowly begins to reevaluate her life and explore her newfound freedom. Eventually, she starts a relationship with an English artist named Saul (Alan Bates), but is wary of repeating past mistakes.
Director
Paul Mazursky
Producer
Paul Mazursky, Anthony Ray
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 5, 1978, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 5, 2016
Runtime
2h 5m