Gene Saks

During the film opening, we see a man, presumably Einstein (Walter Mathau) playing a violin, as another man walks past a poster advertising Boyd's comet. We then see Catherine Boyd (Meg Ryan) with her fiance James Moreland (Stephen Fry). She's working on some math referring to the comet. He comments that she's babbling when she tries to tell him a story. The scene cuts back and forth with a group of elderly men arguing about whether time exists. Meg and James are in his convertible when it develops engine trouble. We see Einstein discussing with his friends (the elderly men), whether there are 'accidents' and he says, "I do not believe God plays dice with the universe." Catherine and James pull into a garage, where Ed Walters (Tim Robbins) is arguing with his boss, Bob (Tony Shalhoub), about the car they hear coming into the shop, what make and model it is and what the trouble with it is, based on what they can hear. Bob sends out Ed to check because he sees the couple and assumes they're "college people" meaning they come from Princeton College. As soon as Ed sees Catherine, he falls for her. James, obnoxiously asks if someone there can work on a British engine, and Ed says, "May I look under the bonnet?" James, reassured by the use of the word 'bonnet' consents. Ed looks at it, looks at Catherie and pronounces, "You have no spark." There's clearly a double meaning here, referring to her relationship with James. James insists, "But what's wrong with it?" and Ed adds, "My guess is that you have a short stroke and premature ignition." He turns to Meg Ryan and says, "Does it ever feel that way?" She replies, "I'm sure I don't know what you mean" but it's clear that she gets the double entendre. Ed says he'll go check with his boss about fixing it, and goes in to tell his boss that he's in love, that time and space stopped, that he could see himself kissing Catherine in the future. Ed tells Catherine that fixing the car will take days, and she uses his phone to call a cab, giving the cab company and Ed her address for the invoice. In the process, she leaves behind a pocket watch. There's a brief moment where you see a hand move the watch under some magazines, but whose hand? And is it an accident? Or deliberate? The theme of accident versus deliberate intervention occurs repeatedly in the film. Ed goes to return the pocket watch and discovers that the address is the home of Albert Einstein, who is Catherine's uncle. Ed helps Einstein and his friends retrieve a badminton racket and in the process befriends them. It's clear to them that Ed likes Catherine. Einstein sees that his niece is unhappy with her fiance and wonders how to help Ed date her. She will only date a very intelligent man, and Ed is an auto mechanic. Ed says, "That's easy, lend me your brain for a couple of days." Einstein gets an idea. Einstein and his three friends hatch a plot to make Catherine think that Ed has developed cold fusion as a way to power a rocket to reach the stars so she'll desire him. They help Ed appear hyper-intelligent, helping him present a paper on cold fusion at a symposium and then helping him pass an IQ test administered by Catherine's fiance. Catherine, as a mathematician, is trying to figure out "Ed's" theory on cold fusion, but she struggles with it. Ed wants to tell Catherine he's a fake, but he can't quite seem to. Einstein and his buddies interfere with Catherine's relationship with James, and encourage Ed. James is presented as a sadistic, sexually cold man who puts Catherine down subtly. Of course, there's always a happily-ever-after ending, even though it takes President Eisenhower's appearance in the film, a convertible, a motorcycle, waltz music, engineered automotive troubles and a comet, to make it all come about.

Donald "Sully" Sullivan (Paul Newman) is a worn yet spry 60-year-old hustler and con-man living in the peaceful, snowy northern New York state village of North Bath. He works free-lance in the construction business, usually with his dim-witted friend Rub Squeers (Pruitt Taylor Vince) by his side. He is often at odds with Carl Roebuck (Bruce Willis), a local contractor, suing him at every opportunity for unpaid wages and disability. Sully's one-legged lawyer Wirf Wirfley (Gene Saks) is inept, and his lawsuits are repeatedly dismissed. As a way to irritate him, Sully flirts with Carl's wife Toby (Melanie Griffith) openly at every opportunity (which she enjoys). He is a regular at the Iron Horse Saloon, where he often has drinks and plays cards with Wirf, Carl, Rub, and the town sheriff. A running joke is the repeated theft of Carl's snowblower. Sully steals it to get back at Carl for his latest failed lawsuit. Carl steals it back, placing it in the yard at his construction business guarded by his doberman pinscher guard dog. Sully, after drugging the dog, steals it a second time. Carl takes it back a final time, and leaves the dog, who is now skittish due to his drugging, at Sully's childhood home for him to find. Sully is a tenant in the home of the elderly Miss Beryl Peoples (Jessica Tandy), whose banker son Clive Peoples Jr. (Josef Sommer) strongly urges her to kick him out and sell the house. Family complications of his own develop for Sully with a visit from Peter (Dylan Walsh), his estranged son who is an unemployed college professor at odds with his wife. While Peter and Sully try to reconstruct their relationship, Sully begins a new one with his young grandson Will (Alexander Goodwin). Peter's sudden everyday presence does not sit well with Rub, but Sully tells him that although Peter is his son, Rub is still his best friend. Meanwhile, Clive is on the verge of a lucrative deal to build an amusement park in North Bath. However, the deal unexpectedly falls through when the promoter turns out to be a con man, and Clive quietly skips town in shame since he used his bank's resources to help finance the amusement park. After being jailed for punching a police officer named Raymer (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) who has been persecuting him, Sully's luck seems to be all bad. But his son, Peter, bails him out of jail and both him and Sully's grandson start to warm up to him. Sully later attends the funeral of an elderly resident named Ms. Hattie (Alice Drummond), an Alzheimer's stricken elderly woman whom he frequently sees wondering the streets of the town in a daze and whom Sully always helps walk her back to her house where her children are caring for her her. Soon, Sully's fortune takes a turn for the better when his horse racing trifecta ticket wins a some of a few thousand dollars. Even the lovely Toby expresses a willingness to leave Carl, mostly due to his constant womanizing, and run away with Sully to Hawaii. Sully realizes he can't leave his grandson and thanks Toby for considering him, just before she leaves for the airport. In the final scene, Sully is pretty much back where he began, boarding at Miss Beryl's. But now he is a little richer, both financially and in his soul, he's a new dog owner, and he has become the picture of contentment.

In September 1937, Eugene Jerome (Jonathan Silverman) is almost 15 and lives in a Jewish-American household in Brighton Beach with his parents Kate (Blythe Danner) and Jack, his 18-year-old brother Stanley (Brian Drillinger), his widowed, asthmatic aunt Blanche Morton, and her two daughters, pretty 16-year-old Nora and sickly 13-year-old Laurie (Stacey Glick). Blanche (Judith Ivey) is Kate's sister, and after being widowed in her 30s, she and her daughters moved in with the Jeromes, causing Jack (Bob Dishy) to take a second job to support the enlarged household. The extended family lives on the money from Jack's two jobs and Stanley's job at a men's hat shop. Each member of the family has their own personal problems and concerns, which end up affecting the other family members. Eugene, who hopes to go to college and become a writer, is obsessed with baseball and also attempting to see a well-developed girl naked, spying on both Nora (Lisa Waltz) and a sexy older woman neighbor. Jack loses his second job and is forced to work nights as a cab driver, until he has a minor heart attack, and must stop working entirely to rest. This puts pressure on the other men in the household. Jack also worries about his cousin and other relatives who still live in Poland, due to the ominous news bulletins coming from pre-World War II Europe. Stanley dislikes his job, but hesitates to quit because the family needs his salary and he doesn't want to put more stress on Jack, whom he fears might die. Kate is overwhelmed by the pressure of trying to take care of everyone, including her sister Blanche, who lacks confidence and is mutually attracted to the Jeromes' Irish neighbor Frank Murphy (James Handy), who sometimes drinks. Blanche grieves for her late husband who died three years ago, is lonely, and struggles with raising her daughters, especially Nora who takes dance lessons, aspires to a Broadway career and wants to accept a well-known producer's offer of an audition. Blanche, finally forced to make a decision, forbids Nora from auditioning, telling her she needs to finish high school first. Frank invites Blanche on a date, which she accepts despite Kate's disapproval. Kate lends Blanche her string of pearls for her date. Though other family are supportive of her, Nora has left for a movie date as retaliation for denying her the audition, causing Blanche to break down in tears right before Frank is due to arrive. Frank's mother, Mrs. Murphy (Bette Henritze), then breaks down as she lets Blanche know that Frank won't be able to keep the date due to a car accident he had while inebriated, is in the hospital, will likely face drunk-driving charges, and then the Murphys will be moving upstate New York to get Frank help for his drinking problem. Meanwhile, Stanley confesses to his mother Kate that he gambled and lost his entire weekly paycheck trying to make up for the family's loss of Jack's wages. Stanley then leaves home to join the Army. Kate and Blanche argue over Kate's lack of sympathy and charity for the Murphys. Blanche then decides to move out the next day, get her own job and apartment, and send for her daughters as soon as possible. The next day, Nora and Stanley (who at the last minute decides not to join the Army because his father needs him) both return home and are reunited with their respective parents. Kate and Blanche reconcile, and Kate suggests that Blanche remain with the family while she looks for a job, and also suggests Blanche might move into the Murphys' apartment across the street. To thank Eugene for his brotherly support, Stanley gives him a picture of a beautiful naked woman. Jack receives the good news that his Polish relatives have escaped from their country and are en route to New York, and the Jeromes excitedly plan for these new additions to their household.

Henry Winkler portrays an outrageously self-confident but out-of-work actor, a young man who dreams of stardom and leaves college to pursue fame and fortune. In 1951, Andy Schmidt is in his last year of college. Taking life easy, always with a saucy joke on his lips, he manages to win fellow student Mary's heart, although she's already otherwise engaged. But getting a job after college turns out to be much harder than he expected. Most directors take offense at his free interpretation of his roles. Desperate, he gives wrestling a try; to avoid getting beaten up, he stages the fights--and incidentally invents show-wrestling. —Tom Zoerner <Tom.Zoerner@informatik.uni-erlangen.de>

A restaurant owner explores his wanderlust by visiting his mother's empty apartment weekly, discovering that his attempts at romantic pursuits are far more challenging than anticipated. A middle aged restaurateur begins to feel the desire to roam and realizes that one day each week, his mother's apartment will be empty all afternoon. He makes several attempts at seduction, only to learn that it is much more complicated and difficult than he could have imagined. —John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>

A dentist pretends to be married to avoid commitment, but when he falls for his girlfriend and proposes, he must recruit his lovelorn nurse to pose as his wife. Toni Simmons believes that the only reason her married lover won't leave his wife is because of the children. Actually, her lover, dentist Julian Winston, doesn't have any children. In fact, he doesn't even have a wife--he just tells women he does to avoid getting involved. When Julian does decide to take the plunge with Toni, she insists on meeting the first wife and Julian enlists the aid of his long-time nurse/receptionist Stephanie Dickinson to play the part. —A.L.Beneteau <albl@inforamp.net> 21-year-old Toni Simmons and middle-aged married dentist Dr. Julian Winston are in love. Toni values honesty above all else, but their relationship is based on a lie: Julian is not married. He initially told her this lie to avoid making a long-term commitment to her, but now he feels he might be ready to marry her, but her respect of honesty would keep him from telling him that he lied before, and he isn't actually married. Then, not wanting to be a homewrecker, Toni wants to meet the first Mrs. Dr. Winston to ensure that their marriage is over. So Julian asks his efficient, no-nonsense, loyal, devoted nurse/receptionist Stephanie Dickinson to pose as his wife. She's the logical choice in his mind, as she already does many personal chores for him. Stephanie, a middle-aged spinster who hides any aspect of her femininity, reluctantly agrees to the ruse. Toni has more questions about her own relationship with Julian after meeting Stephanie than are answered. But in posing as Mrs. Dr. Winston, Stephanie begins to bloom much like the cactus plant on her desk. Conversely, Toni's next-door neighbor, writer Igor Sullivan, has his own thoughts about what Toni should do with her life. —Huggo In Manhattan, dentist Julian Winston works with his efficient nurse/receptionist Stephanie Dickinson, whom he compares to a cactus flower because she represses her emotions. He spends the first anniversary of his affair with 21-year-old Toni Simmons on a date with an Australian air-hostess. Believing that Julian is married with three children and chose to spend the evening with his family, she attempts suicide, but her next-door neighbor, young aspiring writer Igor Sullivan saves her life. When Julian learns what Toni did, he decides to marry her. Toni does not want to be a homewrecker and asks to talk to Mrs. Winston to be sure that she wants the divorce. Julian does not want her to know that he is a liar, so he asks Stephanie to pose as Mrs. Winston. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Dr Julian Winston--successful Fifth Avenue dentist, and easygoing middle-aged bachelor--finds himself between a rock and a hard place, when his convenient, well-orchestrated lie paired with a failed act of despair force him to make a promise. As a result, Julian swears to walk down the aisle with his fresh young mistress Toni; however, when she insists on first meeting his nonexistent soon-to-be ex-wife, things take a turn for the unexpected. To get a divorce, Winston must invent a spouse--and who better than his highly competent, devoted, and stiff nurse Stephanie? This is the perfect plan, but what if things aren't what they seem? —Nick Riganas

Fussy Felix Unger moves in with his divorced poker buddy, sloppy Oscar Madison. Felix's (Jack Lemmon) wife has left him and he is contemplating suicide. His friends sense his depression and one of them, Oscar (Walter Matthau), volunteers to take him in until he is fine again. The two of them are like chalk and cheese - Oscar is fun-loving, gregarious and slovenly, Felix is a shy, stay-at-home, obsessive-compulsive neat-freak. Being around Oscar brightens Felix up, but he quickly starts to irritate Oscar. —grantss Felix Ungar has just broken up with his wife. Despondent, he goes to kill himself but is saved by his friend Oscar Madison. With nowhere else to go, Felix is urged by Oscar to move in with him, at least for a while. The only problem is that Felix is neat, tidy, and neurotic, whereas Oscar is slovenly and casual. —Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>

Conservative young lawyer Paul Bratter marries the vivacious Corie Banks. Their highly passionate relationship descends into discord when they rent their first apartment - a rundown five-flight NYC walk-up with eccentric neighbors. New Yorkers Paul Bratter and Corie Bratter née Banks have just gotten married. He is a stuffed shirt just starting his career as a lawyer. She is an independent-minded free spirit who prides herself on doing the illogical purely out of a sense of adventure, such acts as walking through Washington Square Park barefoot when it's 17°F outside. Their 6-day honeymoon at the Plaza Hotel shows that they can get to know each other easily in the biblical sense. But they will see if they can get to know each other in their real life when they move into their first apartment, a cozy (in other words, small), slightly-broken-down top-floor unit in a five-story walk-up. While Corie joyfully bounds up and down the stairs, Paul, always winded after a long day, hates needing to walk up the six flights (including the stairs that comprise the outside front stoop. Beyond the issues with the apartment itself, Paul and Corie must deal with an odd assortment of neighbors, most specifically eccentric senior Victor Velasco, who lives in the unusual attic and considers himself a dirty old man. Corie, worried about her single strait-laced mother Ethel Banks, wants to set her up with Victor. Without Corie or Paul truly realizing it, Ethel and Victor as a twosome is as illogical as Corie and Paul. What happens between Ethel and Victor may predict whether Corie and Paul's marriage can last in the long run. —Huggo Paul Bratter, a conservative young lawyer, marries a vivacious young woman, Corrie. Their highly-passionate relationship descends into comical discord in a five-flight walk-up New York City apartment. When Corie meets one of the neighbors, an older single man, she wonders if her lonely mother would be interested in meeting him. —Jim Cobb Combines love and laughs. Paul Bratter is a newly-married lawyer. Corie Bratter is a newly-married woman whose main goal in life is to have fun, and to have it with Paul. Together they learn how to live and love in an apartment that's laughably small in New York and located on the fifth floor of a building with no elevator. Corie's mother has some of the funniest lines. —Kathy Moore <kathy.moore@ericsson.com> Paul Bratter is Mister Straight. Corie is his new wife, who dedicates her life to the pursuit of fun. As the ecstasy of the honeymoon gives way to the reality of setting up housekeeping in a five-flight walk-up, the harmony of marriage turns to comical discord. The mother-in-law complains meekly. The middle-aged Lothario upstairs flirts. Joy turns to anguish. There is little doubt that the young people will kiss and make up by the end of the picture, just as there's little doubt that mother and the neighbor will find each other. —Anonymous