Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Ortiz Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

reidycarol-65015 I cannot believe the review I just read about this movie. It makes me want to be in a relationship. I think Neil Simon's writing for this movie is full of great lines and the speech Marsha Mason gives is so wonderful and she really pulls it off. I have played that part over and over and told several people about it who haven't seen the movie. And I thought the chemistry between Caan and Mason was pretty good and they were believable as a couple. I also thought the supporting actors played good roles--the brother (Bologne) and the friend (Harper). It had some good scenery too. The music score wasn't so good. The move is a little slow--a romance--a chic flic, I guess. I loved the ending.

Jack Spencer Never got a chance to see this on stage, but it has the kind of dialogue that makes a play great with competent actors. Chapter Two just doesn't work as a movie. James Caen and Marsha Mason certainly have the chops, and for the first 30 minutes, the show is an interesting romantic story.That all ends however, when Caen's charterer has a meltdown and it becomes almost painful to watch. I felt horrible for Marsha Mason, and the emotional baggage, that was heaped upon her character.Even with the eventual resolution, I had no hopes that this ill advised marriage would survive. Joe Bologna, and Valerie Harper, provide a bit of comic relief, but not enough to make me feel much better.Movies are supposed to be a pleasant escape for the most part. If you ever have had relationship problems or not, I doubt you will enjoy this movie much.

mark.waltz Neil Simon takes a semi-autobiographical chapter from his own life and turns it into an incredibly kind tale of finding love after death and divorce. James Caan is a not so merry widow and Marsha Mason is a not so gay divorcée. They are both ironically leaving JFK around the same time, he coming in from a get-away to Europe and she returning from Reno. Not running into each other, they also miss seeing each other at a posh Manhattan restaurant, he on a date with an exotically dressed model and she with an incredibly tall man who wants to take her dancing. Thanks to his playboy brother (Joseph Bologna) and her best friend (Valarie Harper), they end up in several awkward phone conversations and she seems to think she's got a stalker on her hands. But they finally agree to a five minute meeting, and boy, when they do, sparks fly....The conflict in the relationship comes from each of their personality quirks, aspects of themselves that seem to bother them more than the other. He can't seem to forget his late wife, and she is gun-shy about another relationship. But the sudden rush into marriage, which brings out each of their insecurities while on a honeymoon where he once took his late wife, threatens to separate them due to these personality disorders, and it will take time apart for them to sort through these issues.The stars are both extremely attractive here, and after playing some not-so-nice roles on screen, Caan finally becomes a likable guy, one you truly root for. Mason, Mrs. Neil Simon in real life, seems to be playing a variation of herself, and is as usual, adorable and quirky. Bologna and Harper, both married to other partners (who seem to be conveniently out of town all the time), add into the mix, and are absolutely wonderful. Fresh from her long-running TV role of "Rhoda", Harper is a delight, providing some snappy lines like a modern day Eve Arden. Bologna is likable too in spite of his character's obvious insincerity, and that adds a lot of humor into the mix.A pretty musical score by Marvin Hamlish, a love theme sung by Marilyn McCoo and excellent location photography also add to the charm of Simon's simple but witty tale of two people in transition who find each other when they're really not looking for anybody to replace whom they've just lost. There's a very funny finale where Mason rushes through the streets of Manhattan trying to avoid running into restaurant patrons, a handyman spraying the sidewalk and a man on a unicycle. Only in New York from the mind of Neil Simon, who also throws in a hysterical sequence at the 42nd Street Library where a young girl groans at Mason and Caan for making too much noise. Only in 1979 New York, kids. Only in 1979 New York.

cliffcarson-1 Let's get this out of the way first. Marsha Mason is the type of actress that puts a great deal of herself into every part she plays. What Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow were to the writing skills of Woody Allen, Mason was to Neil Simon. An actress who possessed an instinct for the writers mind and interpreted his material better than anyone. In CHAPTER TWO, Mason is at her best when delivering clever Neil Simon one liners. And although she gives it her all, she cannot on her own be expected to put across some of the stickiest dialogue ever written by Neil Simon. Particularly the self righteous overly emotional speech at the end. Not even Meryl Streep could pull that one off !! Simon had written a similar speech for Mason in THE GOODBYE GIRL. About how the character likes herself now and how far she had come in her life and how grown up and wonderful she feels. Mason should have put her foot down with this monologue in CHAPTER TWO. There is no way short of a miracle that any actor can pull gooey dialogue off like that without setting nervousness up in the viewer. This is not to say that Neil Simon has failed with this piece. Some of his words hit a nice autobiographic mark and I like the confessional speech that George (James Caan) gives about all the reasons why he resents marriage the second time around. It's too bad Caan never becomes the part. He's so wooden and uncomfortable in this. Not as the character, but as an actor who can't find his way through the part. Caan looks to Mason knowing she's carrying the weight of the picture and he's hoping her performance will carry him too. The chemistry between them doesn't jell the way it did in Cinderella LIBERTY. Probably due to some of the icky dialogue displayed here. Fortunately there's top notch supporting work by Valerie Harper and Joseph Bologna. Both are at the top of their game here. Simon seems to have written the best scenes for them. While I can forgive Robert Moore's soapy direction, I cannot for my life excuse the awful music score. Indicative of most music in movies between the decade of 1976 through 1986. Inappropriate and sappy in the worst sense.Why would anyone want to be in love after watching this picture and hearing it's sticky music? The feeling of this movie is like one of those old butter commercials with the two lovers running in slow motion towards each other. I must admit to feeling lonely before watching CHAPTER TWO. After it was over I was extremely happy that I was not in a relationship and quite content to be single for a while. Thanks Neil !!