Bette Midler and Woody Allen star in director Paul Mazursky's comedy as a professional Los Angeles couple--Deborah (Midler) is the author of a best-selling self-help book about marriage and has been wed to successful lawyer Nick (Allen) for 16 years. They live a high-pressure professional... [More]

Bette Midler and Woody Allen star in director Paul Mazursky's comedy as a professional Los Angeles couple--Deborah (Midler) is the author of a best-selling self-help book about marriage and has been wed to successful lawyer Nick (Allen) for 16 years. They live a high-pressure professional life, complete with matching Saabs, two kids, a house in the hills, beepers, cell phones, and a constant barrage of client phone calls. To celebrate their anniversary, they decide to embark on a spending spree at the Beverly Center mall. But while there, each makes a startling revelation that rocks their marriage. Nick, following advice from his wife's book, kicks things off by announcing he's been having an affair. Deborah, staggered by the news, rebounds by requesting a divorce. The spoiled couple reconciles--until the author admits that she's been unfaithful herself. As Nick and Deborah wade their way through the mall, dodging a particularly annoying mime (clown Bill Irwin in a hilarious role), mariachi bands, and Christmas-carolling rappers, they are forced to realize the mistakes they've made along the way--all the while juggling the pros and cons of their marriage, dividing assets, and shooting off rapid rounds of compliments and insults. Midler and Allen make a terrific and suitably neurotic pair in Mazursky's hilarious satire of an outlandish Los Angles marriage. [Less]