Only When I Laugh (1981)

Neil Simon should have done more research about alcoholism before writing Only When I Laugh because Marsha Mason does not live (or in this case, act) like any alcoholic that I've known (and I've known a few). The script is dated, full of stagey one-liners in place of characterization and ends sappily with a metaphoric Hollywood hug between Mason and her chip-off-the-old-block daughter, Kristy McNichol. The saving graces are the supporting performances from James Coco and Joan Hackett who bring truth to their contrived lines.

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...Man of La Mancha (1972)

Man of La Mancha is such a beautiful and powerful musical about Miguel de Cervantes and his creation, Don Quixote, that one would assume a studio could phone a filmization home by hiring talented filmmakers. One might also assume that the filmmakers, in turn, would hire actors who can sing and the result would not have the pacing of a tortoise. One would be wrong.