Only When I Laugh (film)

Roger Ebert gave the film one star out of four and wrote, "The only genuine moments amid the phony landscapes of this film come from Kristy McNichol, who turns in a wonderful performance as Mason's daughter. McNichol carries conviction. She suggests the real passions and hurts that her character must feel.

Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune also awarded it one star out of four and wrote, "The script by Neil Simon is as phony as can be, with only McNichol giving any credibility to her character.

Vincent Canby of The New York Times was positive, writing that "Mr. Simon's screenplay is also one of his best, with the exception of McNichol, whom he faulted for playing her role "in that triply unreal manner of an adult actress imitating an old-time Hollywood child actress imitating an adult actress."

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by Anonymousreply 33July 2, 2023 2:26 PM

Joan Hackett is the best thing in it and it's not her best work. Mason is really awful.

by Anonymousreply 1June 16, 2023 7:31 PM

The OP is obviously referring to Kristy McLesbian

by Anonymousreply 2June 16, 2023 7:38 PM

Roger Ebert is in love with Kristy's performance- She's playing the same LESBIAN TOMBOY she played on Family from 1976 to 1980.

by Anonymousreply 3June 16, 2023 7:40 PM

Joan Hackett is so incredibly mannered. This is the film version of Simon's THE GINGERBREAD LADY, one of his first plays that wasn't a feel-good comedy through and through that served as a vehicle for many an older star.

by Anonymousreply 4June 16, 2023 7:43 PM

Love Joan Hackett in this and everything.

by Anonymousreply 5June 16, 2023 7:45 PM

Hackett was terrific in this, and deserved the Oscar over Stapleton, who did nothing much to crow about in the bloated Reds. But it was also a weak year for supporting actresses. I wish McNichol would have squeaked in over, say, Jane Fonda, who also did nothing in On Golden Pond.

by Anonymousreply 6June 16, 2023 8:01 PM

Neil Simon did major surgery on The Gingerbread Lady to make OWIL. I think it's Marsha's best performance in a Simon vehicle, better than The Goodbye Girl.

by Anonymousreply 7July 2, 2023 2:52 AM

Kristy had such charisma and warmth on screen . She had IT ⭐️

by Anonymousreply 8July 2, 2023 2:56 AM

I haven't seen it in years but Joan Hackett was the star in my opinion.

by Anonymousreply 9July 2, 2023 3:03 AM

Bit hard to believe that Joan Hackett could be considered a great beauty.

by Anonymousreply 10July 2, 2023 3:04 AM

scene with Joan monologue

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by Anonymousreply 11July 2, 2023 3:06 AM

Ebert was weird about McNichol and got his knickers in a twist when her "Just the Way You Are" character had two sex partners (and made out with a third guy) in the course of one movie.

by Anonymousreply 12July 2, 2023 3:08 AM

Bobby Wygant talks to Marsha in an ice-cream dress.

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by Anonymousreply 13July 2, 2023 3:23 AM

I haven't seen this movie in a long time, but I remember it was pretty bad. There is just something in Kristy McNichols eyes that makes me feel bad for her. She did a movie with Matt Dillon ( I forget the name) that was so uncomfortable to watch and sad, too. Hollywood was probably hard for her and I do hope she's had a good life. Watching Elliot Page back when she was Ellen Page reminds me of Kristy in some ways.

by Anonymousreply 14July 2, 2023 4:31 AM

Little Darlings r14 is talking about. Kristy brings such pathos to the end of that film. She was really talented for a teenager.

(Tatum O'Neal on the other hand speaks with a strange affected voice in the whole thing and makes you think Paper Moon was just a fluke.)

by Anonymousreply 15July 2, 2023 5:24 AM

Yes, that it Little Darlings. The end of that movie and her acting was hard to watch because it seemed real for her. Something in her eyes.

by Anonymousreply 16July 2, 2023 5:32 AM

Yes r16! Her eyes had such sadness to them.

by Anonymousreply 17July 2, 2023 5:40 AM

They really did. That stayed with me for a while whenever I thought of her.

by Anonymousreply 18July 2, 2023 5:42 AM

Did Kristy have a big major breakdown at some point and that's when she disappeared or was it gradual?

by Anonymousreply 19July 2, 2023 5:45 AM

both r19.

She had a major breakdown and production had to shut down on some film she was making.

Then she had a comeback with the TV show Empty Nest. She did that for a number of years and then left at the end of a season because of mental health reasons.

She was a drama teacher for kids last I read.

by Anonymousreply 20July 2, 2023 5:48 AM

R15, “Little Darlings” is only worth watching to view Armand Assante’s furry chest.

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by Anonymousreply 21July 2, 2023 5:54 AM

It is not a feelgood movie but I love seeing old-school NYC in the background

by Anonymousreply 23July 2, 2023 6:23 AM

This remains one of my favourite movies. But then I saw it about the same time I was trying to come to terms with my mothers' alcoholism.

by Anonymousreply 24July 2, 2023 6:27 AM

Shelley Winters toured with The Gingerbread Lady in summer stock productions, a more suitable actress for the role.

by Anonymousreply 26July 2, 2023 8:31 AM

I think Kristy's mental illness (finally diagnosed as bipolar disorder in, I think, her thirties, after her Empty Nest departure) was partly what made her seem so fragile and sympathetic to audiences. Sad that it brought her both fame and misery.

by Anonymousreply 27July 2, 2023 12:34 PM

It would have worked better with Shelley Hack.

by Anonymousreply 28July 2, 2023 12:53 PM

R23- What year we’re you born?

Old school sounds like something from the 1940’s or 1950’s

Not ca. 1981

by Anonymousreply 29July 2, 2023 12:55 PM

Was James Coco gay? There is an interview where he said he was in a long time relationship with Dena Dietrich.

by Anonymousreply 30July 2, 2023 1:05 PM

I remember liking this movie when I first saw it, but I had a hard time believing Marsha Mason as a recovering alcoholic. She seemed too put together to be someone who was once a sloppy drunk.

by Anonymousreply 31July 2, 2023 1:12 PM

R30- No James Coco was not gay and neither was Charles Nelson Reilly or Dom DeLuise.

by Anonymousreply 32July 2, 2023 2:12 PM

Coco was shortened from the original Cookie Sniffer.

by Anonymousreply 33July 2, 2023 2:26 PM

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