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Willie and Phil

Play trailer Poster for Willie and Phil R 1980 1h 56m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 4 Reviews 33% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Life imitates art when two Manhattanites -- pompous teacher Willie (Michael Ontkean) and quiet photographer Phil (Ray Sharkey) -- become friends after a thought-provoking screening of "Jules et Jim," Truffaut's classic film about a decades-long ménage à trois. Soon, the men meet Jeanette (Margot Kidder), a sexually liberated southern transplant who promptly falls for both of them. Frustrated passions curdle into jealousy as Jeanette entertains love affairs with each in the ensuing years.

Critics Reviews

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Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 10/23/2004
3/4
I think Mazursky's suggesting something interesting about the 1970s. It was a decade without a consuming passion, without an overall subject or tone. Go to Full Review Jesús Fernández Santos El Pais (Spain) 08/15/2019
Paul Mazursky's story feels old. His allusions to the East and to American society are not funny but frivolous. [Full Review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 06/17/2005
2/5
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat Spirituality & Practice 01/29/2004
Willie & Phil vividly shows the pain and unfulfilment that comes with the yearning for new experience that is so embedded in the American grain. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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06/29/2010 inspired by" jules and jim" this falls short of the movie that inspired it See more 03/10/2010 *** (out of four) An obvious product of the time it was made, "Willie and Phil" feels a bit dated in its ideals and views. But, it is still an engaging and fun drama that boasts some fine perormances from Michael Ontkean, Ray Sharkey and Margot Kidder. Willie (Sharkey) and Phil (Michael Ontkean) meet each outside of a Greenwich Village movie theater in 1970 after seeing a foreign film. They talk a bit and learn they have a lot in common. They become fast friends and do everything together. That is until an interesting woman (Kidder) comes into their lives. A strange triangle begins that will follow them through the 1970's from New York to L.A. The journey is worth taking for the most part. See more Read all reviews
Willie and Phil

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Paul Mazursky

Director

Michael Ontkean

Willie Kaufman

Margot Kidder

Jeannette Sutherland

Ray Sharkey

Phil D'Amico

Jan Miner

Maria Kaufman

Tom Brennan

Mr. Sal Kaufman
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Willie and Phil

Willie and Phil (1980) Willie and Phil (1980) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Life imitates art when two Manhattanites -- pompous teacher Willie (Michael Ontkean) and quiet photographer Phil (Ray Sharkey) -- become friends after a thought-provoking screening of "Jules et Jim," Truffaut's classic film about a decades-long ménage à trois. Soon, the men meet Jeanette (Margot Kidder), a sexually liberated southern transplant who promptly falls for both of them. Frustrated passions curdle into jealousy as Jeanette entertains love affairs with each in the ensuing years.
Director
Paul Mazursky
Producer
Paul Mazursky, Anthony Ray
Screenwriter
Paul Mazursky
Production Co
20th Century Fox
Rating
R
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 56m