As I was watching this movie, I found myself struck by what seemed to be a number of similarities with the movie "Ordinary People." Like the story in that movie, Richard Dreyfuss and Judy Davis play a couple whose marriage is falling apart as they deal with the accidental death of their son a number of years before. "Coast To Coast," however is not as good as "Ordinary People," although it's not a bad movie at all and while it definitely didn't captivate me, it definitely did pull me in and keep me interested.
"Coast To Coast" is an often heavy movie, although the heaviness is broken up somewhat by rather low-key comedy, which is largely introduced by making Dreyfuss' character of Barnaby Pierce a comedy writer. Essentially, Barnaby and Maxine (Davis) set off from their home in Connecticut to attend their surviving son's wedding in Los Angeles. (In another scene strikingly similar to "Ordinary People" the surviving son is having problems of his own dealing with his brother's death, as they were in the car together when the accident occurred.) Along the way, Barnaby and Maxine have encounters with several old friends and acquaintances, all of whom seem to have lives even more dysfunctional than theirs. The most notable (to me) of those encounters was with one of Maxine's former professors (played by Maximilian Schell) who has married a young bombshell, but whose ex-wife still lives in the house, coming out only at night and never interacting with the ex-husband. Essentially the central part of the movie is the trip to Denver, when Maxine has a rather difficult encounter with an old flame, played by Fred Ward.
Somehow, any real suspense is lacking here. I never had any doubt that Barnaby and Maxine would eventually reconcile, and that reconciliation is certainly hinted at by the last scene of the movie.
The performances of Dreyfuss and Davis were the highlights here. Dreyfuss is always excellent, and this was no exception. Davis I was unfamiliar with, having not seen any of her previous work, but she also did a very commendable job with her role. These performances pull a basically OK movie up another notch. "Coast To Coast" didn't blow me away, but on the strength of an interesting story, memorable characters and the above mentioned performances, I still give it a 7/10
"Coast To Coast" is an often heavy movie, although the heaviness is broken up somewhat by rather low-key comedy, which is largely introduced by making Dreyfuss' character of Barnaby Pierce a comedy writer. Essentially, Barnaby and Maxine (Davis) set off from their home in Connecticut to attend their surviving son's wedding in Los Angeles. (In another scene strikingly similar to "Ordinary People" the surviving son is having problems of his own dealing with his brother's death, as they were in the car together when the accident occurred.) Along the way, Barnaby and Maxine have encounters with several old friends and acquaintances, all of whom seem to have lives even more dysfunctional than theirs. The most notable (to me) of those encounters was with one of Maxine's former professors (played by Maximilian Schell) who has married a young bombshell, but whose ex-wife still lives in the house, coming out only at night and never interacting with the ex-husband. Essentially the central part of the movie is the trip to Denver, when Maxine has a rather difficult encounter with an old flame, played by Fred Ward.
Somehow, any real suspense is lacking here. I never had any doubt that Barnaby and Maxine would eventually reconcile, and that reconciliation is certainly hinted at by the last scene of the movie.
The performances of Dreyfuss and Davis were the highlights here. Dreyfuss is always excellent, and this was no exception. Davis I was unfamiliar with, having not seen any of her previous work, but she also did a very commendable job with her role. These performances pull a basically OK movie up another notch. "Coast To Coast" didn't blow me away, but on the strength of an interesting story, memorable characters and the above mentioned performances, I still give it a 7/10