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Never Again (2002)
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Reviews Counted:21
Fresh:4
Rotten:17
Average Rating:3.9/10
Consensus: The performances are excellent, but much of the story rings false.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong sexual content including graphic dialogue, and for language
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Jul 12, 2002 Limited
Box Office: $196,147
Synopsis: Like WHEN HARRY MET SALLY for fiftysomethings living in a world that feels like THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, NEVER AGAIN is a candid, lighthearted film that looks at the emotional and sexual lives... Like WHEN HARRY MET SALLY for fiftysomethings living in a world that feels like THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, NEVER AGAIN is a candid, lighthearted film that looks at the emotional and sexual lives of two single 54-year-old New Yorkers. Written, produced, and directed by Eric Schaeffer, the film presents this mismatched middle-aged pair as they question the worth of love. The two meet under the strangest of circumstances--in a gay bar where the straight Christopher (Jeffrey Tambor) is testing out a new image, and Grace (Jill Clayburgh) is looking for anonymity and a solitary moment after a bad date. They quickly discover that they share the romantic credo of "never again," however, as they get to know each other they realize that this credo may not be the answer to their problems. Although the movie is frank about the sexual aspects of their lives, it never gets graphic, and the warmth and humanness with which it portrays sexuality only adds to the appeal of the film. Stars Tambor and Clayburgh give honest performances in roles that Schaeffer wrote specifically for them. NEVER AGAIN is unique in its portrayal of older people in a romantic comedy, and the way that it supports its characters, has faith in them, and develops them as real, believable people is truly special. [More]
Starring: Jeffrey Tambor, Jill Clayburgh, Caroline Aaron, Sandy Duncan
Starring: Jeffrey Tambor, Jill Clayburgh, Caroline Aaron, Sandy Duncan, Bill Duke, Suzanne Shepherd
Director: Eric Schaeffer
Director: Eric Schaeffer
Screenwriter: Eric Schaeffer
Producer: Terence Michael, Eric Schaeffer, Bob Kravitz, Dawn Wolfrom
Studio: USA Films
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Reviews for Never Again
After a while, Never Again gets so busy celebrating ageless virility that it forgets to tell a decent story.
There are enough things that poke out rather boldly from Never Again's modest proportions to keep it verging on interesting. And not all of them are strapped to Jill Clayburgh's waist.
Just offbeat enough to keep you interested without coming close to bowling you over.
Clayburgh and Tambor are charming performers; neither of them deserves Eric Schaeffer.
Rarely does a film so graceless and devoid of merit as this one come along.
What Eric Schaeffer has accomplished with Never Again may not, strictly speaking, qualify as revolutionary. But it's defiantly and delightfully against the grain.
Full of the kind of obnoxious chitchat that only self-aware neurotics engage in.
Never Again swings between false sentiment and unfunny madcap comedy and, along the way, expects the audience to invest in the central relationship as some kind of marriage of true minds.
The character is too forced and overwritten to be funny or believable much of the time, and Clayburgh doesn't always improve the over-the-top mix.
Here's a case of two actors who do everything humanly possible to create characters who are sweet and believable, and are defeated by a screenplay that forces them into bizarre, implausible behavior.
I doubt if the solution to the movie industry's ludicrous ageism is showing 50-year-olds acting like randy 20-year-olds.
Schaeffer has to find some hook on which to hang his persistently useless movies, and it might as well be the resuscitation of the middle-aged character.
Schaeffer successfully teams Jeffrey Tambor and Jill Clayburgh in a middle-aged romance between a pair of wary divorces, only to shoot them down with some of the most tasteless dialogue ever spoken in a mainstream movie.
Schaeffer should take the advice of his own movie's title the next time he thinks about coercing some poor actress into making a fool of herself.
As conceived by Mr. Schaeffer, Christopher and Grace are little more than collections of quirky traits lifted from a screenwriter's outline and thrown at actors charged with the impossible task of making them jell.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 77% 77% | The Hangover |
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
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| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 82% 82% | Paranormal Activity |
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