A major league star who is on the verge of breaking a record, meets a singer and they get married, but they have different goals, so they separate, jeopardizing his opportunity in sports and the possibility of making up with his wife.
Director: Hal Ashby
Writer: Neil Simon
Stars: Michael O'Keefe, Rebecca De Mornay, Martin Ritt, Randy Quaid.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090036/
Watched online: part 1, part 2; ok print.
19 songs in the Soundtracks.
I left the writer credit since his name was over the title. Rated 4.4 by 900+ IMDb voters. I think that's a little harsh.
I was disappointed by the lack of comedy. MO, who played Jackie's husband on Roseanne ('93-5), can deliver comedy, as can RQ. There just wasn't much here.
This predates Bull Durham ('88), which also covers superstitious baseball players.
The conflict is that after MO marries RD, she still pursues her singing career (hence the genre Music), (RD can't really sing very well) and she does slowly get better gigs. But she is his "lucky charm", so when she misses games, he doesn't hit the home runs he's known for. But they officially break up and he overcomes his suspicion, hitting his 62nd home run of the season, breaking Roger Maris' record. This during the game to decide the pennant, and his team loses because RQ's hit is just inches shy of a homer. MO & RD have a scene where she asks to have the door (to their relationship) open, but they leave separately, he with his pretty long-haired labrador. The End.
I can't recommend seeing this again, hence my 5. But it's not nearly so horrid as the IMDb rating.
distr. Columbia, dir. Ashby; 5
