That Old Feeling (1997)
A tired, TV sit-com level, romantic comedy starring a shrill Bette Midler and directed by a many, many years beyond his prime Carl Reiner? God, no. That Old Feeling is the kind of movie where you want to gnaw your own arm off just to have something to throw at the screen.
Midler and Dennis Farina star as the middle-aged divorced parents of Paula Marshall, who, as the film begins, is getting married. Cue up the un-witty, insulting banter! Midler and Farina spend the entire ceremony taking cheap pot-shots at one another...until...inevitably....they find out they're still in love. No sooner have they rekindled their romance then they disappear on a second honeymoon, much to the chagrin of their daughter, their new spouses and, well, just about everybody else. You see, no one can believe these dolts have reconciled, and guess what? We don't either. The chemistry between the two stars is akin to romantic antimatter.
Speaking of romantic antimatter, Paula Marshall hooks up with Danny Nucci, a tabloid journalist who's also tracking down Midler (she's playing a movie star, natch), and they do such uber-cute things like get themselves locked out on a hotel balcony. In order to grab the attention of a cop just below, they joyously begin flinging down fruit (don't ask) while happy, rambunctious plays on the soundtrack.
Oh well, will any of these morons find their true loves? Do you doubt it? That Old Feeling is mired in predictability to such a degree that anyone who has ever seen a movie before can figure out exactly what will happen, when it will happen, and how they are expected to respond. Instead of moans of 'ah', it elicits groans of sheer agony. Truly. The movie creaks and wheezes very, very slowly towards its predetermined destination. The acting by all is pretty dire; they obviously equate volume with humor. Since nothing they have to say is funny, they simply crank it up to 11 and hope that no one will notice that nothing that is being said is of any importance to anyone.
Needless to say, the only feeling That Old Feeling inspires is loathing.
