A Perfect Couple

I want to like this, but it is amazing how the bad late-70's tunes bring the film to a grinding halt, even for someone like me who appreciates music that is very much of its time. If the music was intentionally bad to make fun of then-pop music, that would be fine, but it is not the case. Also, I have a hard time liking Marta Heflin and she really doesn't have chemistry with Paul Dooley who's likable. And the rest of the cast isn't used well at all, especially Alex's family.

Begins as a breezy and unorthodox romance of ordinary people who can't help but in love despite the forces around (and within) them trying to prevent them from doing so. Heflin and Dooley are fine as average Joe/Jane, but the band that function as a kind of 'Greek chorus' are terrible, and it becomes clear sometime during the second act that Altman has nowhere to take this story, so it starts spinning its wheels in cruise control. Aimless Altman can be compelling, but not so much here.

Keeping 'Em Off the Streets? More like keep 'em off the stage, please! This has a few funny moments (like the hospital scene) but mostly it embodies all of Altman's worst traits: terrible music, characters who are broad, cartoonish stereotypes more than human beings, and a pervasive badly dated late-'70sness to everything from the fashion to the social commentary. It reminded me of nothing so much as the California scenes from Annie Hall extended into an entire film.