The Slugger's Wife (1985)

A womanizing baseball player (the colorless Michael O'Keefe) falls head over heels with a rock singer (Rebecca De Mornay) and decides to settle down. But their marriage hits a wall when he expects her to put her career second and be a baseball wife. Written by Neil Simon and directed by Hal Ashy (SHAMPOO). Atrocious about sums it up! Simon hits rock bottom. Could this drek come from the pen of the man who wrote BAREFOOT IN THE PARK, THE GOODBYE GIRL or THE OUT OF TOWNERS? Apparently and the film doesn't cover Hal Ashby in glory either. O'Keefe's character is a prick and we're supposed to accept his psychotic behavior as love for his wife. Maybe if any of this were funny, it would override some of the nonsense on display here but it's a dud. To Simon's credit, he doesn't give us a happy ending with everything wrapped up in a neat little ribbon but that doesn't excuse the crappy writing preceding it. A well deserved critical and commercial flop. With Martin Ritt (yes, the director), Randy Quaid, Cleavant Derricks, Lisa Langlois, Lynn Whitfield and Georgann Johnson.