Rich And Famous (1981)

The film follows two very different best friends, the intellectually bent and independent Liz (Jacqueline Bisset) and the ditzy and needy Southern belle Merry (Candice Bergen) from 1959 to 1981 as their lives take divergent paths with ups and downs (only to merge again) but their bond unbroken. Based on the play OLD ACQUAINTANCE by John Van Druten and directed by George Cukor in his final film. Van Druten's play had previously been filmed in 1943 with Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins in the Bisset and Bergen roles. The film has been updated with 1980s sexual mores which only serves to derail the film. Pauline Kael was lambasted when she suggested the sexual situations had a homosexual subtext but I'll have to agree with her. The film seems to be obsessed with male bottoms either in the nude or in tight jeans. The men are in various states of undress through out the film while the women are, if not fully clothed, partially clothed. The scene where Bisset picks up a male prostitute (Matt Lattanzi) and has sex with him seems off and unnatural where it wouldn't if Bisset were a gay male. Cukor was one of the best of the "old school" directors but he doesn't seem comfortable with the "new" sexuality of 80s cinema. Bisset seems stiff but Bergen appears to be having fun. An awkward film but entertaining nonetheless. With Meg Ryan, David Selby, Hart Bochner, Steven Hill and Nina Foch.