The ensemble of women in writer Alan Alda's life walk away with the TV version of this Neil Simon play that has him talking to the audience about his feelings, as if he was on stage, and after a while with him bellowing either at them or towards the camera, the urge to shout "Enough!" takes over. It's replaced by me imagining other actors in the semi-autobiographical account of Simon's life, and knowing a bit about him makes me not really have much sympathy for Jake. There's current wife Anne Archer (who has decided to leave him), late wife Mira Sorvino (who died at 35 so she's as he remembers her to be), Lolita Davidovich whom he dated, daughter Kimberly Williams (played as younger also by Ashley Peldon), sister Julie Kavner (who unsurprising walks away with the film) and acerbic therapist Joyce Van Patten, a close second to scene stealing.
The stage play nature of the structure is only a slight obstacle to the film's impact, and that's only for those who have issues with the film's narrative. The selfish nature of Jake is off-putting, and it's interesting that none of the women come off as nagging or controlling or obsessively neurotic, and perhaps being set in Jake's mind does give him the right to be a bit self involved. The spirit of the late Sorvino comes back to interact with Williams as a part of Alda's healing, and its an interesting take on the subject of death acceptance. So there's a few elements of the story that are emotionally profound, but the overall presence of Alda overly dominating the film had me not enjoying it, wishing he would have toned down his megalomania.
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