The normally empty Woody Allen-lite argument against Albert Brooks is almost justified here. Something like Annie Hall, but with an insecure and neurotic guy who isn't in love with all his insecurities and neuroses. Not a bad movie at all, but the comparisons to a GREAT movie hang over Modern Romance like a black cloud.

"Nearly as much as Jerry Lewis, Albert Brooks's comic persona is defined by its unlikability." - Fernando F. Croce

It has the ring of truth but never got more than a wry smile out of me.

Arguably Brooks's best effort. Certainly his funniest. "There are men out there who only rape; that's all they do!"

One of the better of Brooks's whine-comedies

There were a scattered few howlingly funny lines, and it's always somewhat entertaining to watch Albert Brooks do his neurotic schtick, but like most of his films (save Lost in America) it never rises very far above average.

so goddamn painful.

Brooks is like Woody Allen if Allen was more unflinching and honest about depicting his own unpleasant neurosis instead of flattering his own weaknesses, which inherently makes this superior to Allen's work. However the film can't manage to completely transcend the constraints of it's mainstream romantic comedy trappings, so it ultimately feels oddly uneven and stilted despite some truly hilarious and painful moments (mostly within the first half).