''That Old Feeling'' is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by

Carl Reiner Carl Reiner (March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020) was an American actor, stand-up comedian, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned seven decades. He was the recipient of many awards and honors, including 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, ...

, his final film as director before his death in 2020. It stars Bette Midler and

Dennis Farina Donaldo Gugliermo "Dennis" Farina (February 29, 1944 – July 22, 2013) was an American actor. Often typecast as a mobster or police officer, he is known for roles such as FBI Agent Jack Crawford in '' Manhunter'', mobster Jimmy Serrano in th ...

Plot

Molly de Mora (

Paula Marshall Paula Marshall (born June 12, 1964) is an American actress. Career In 1990, Marshall had a guest role as Iris West, the love interest of Flash (Barry Allen) in the pilot episode on the short-lived '' Flash''. In 1991, she guest-starred on ''Supe ...

) invites her divorced parents ( Bette Midler and

) to her wedding, where they see each other for the first time in 14 years. During the reception a shouting match between the two ensues. Following this, their spark is rekindled. Over the next few days they fall in love again and run off together, thereby upsetting the newlyweds' honeymoon and their respective (current) spouses. If the scandal was made public it would be more controversial than usual, since the bride's husband hopes to stand for election to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. After searching for her parents and getting to know Joey Donna (

Danny Nucci Daniel Nucci (born September 15, 1968) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles in blockbuster films, including his roles as Danny Rivetti in ''Crimson Tide'' (1995), Lieutenant Shepard in ''The Rock'' (1996), Deputy Monr ...

), her mother's number one paparazzi nicknamed "The Cockroach", whom she hires to help her find them, Molly decides that her parents deserve a chance to be together and gives them her honeymoon to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

. When Keith objects to her decision, it is revealed that he slept with her stepmother. Knowing now that her marriage was a mistake, Molly runs off with Joey as her parents run off to Hawaii.

Cast

* Bette Midler as Lilly Leonard *

as Dan de Mora *

as Molly de Mora *

Gail O'Grady Gail Ann O'Grady (born January 23, 1963), an American actress and producer, is best known for her roles on television. Her roles include Donna Abandando in the ABC police drama '' NYPD Blue'', and Helen Pryor in the NBC drama series ''American Dre ...

as Rowena *

David Rasche David Rasche ( ; born August 7, 1944) is an American theater, film and television actor who is best known for his portrayal of the title character in the 1980s satirical police sitcom ''Sledge Hammer!'' Since then he has often played characters ...

as Alan *

James Denton James Thomas Denton Jr. (born January 20, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for playing Mike Delfino on ABC's comedy-drama series ''Desperate Housewives'' (2004–2012) and Dr. Sam Radford on Hallmark Channel's come ...

as Keith Marks *

as Joey Donna * Blu Mankuma as Piano Player *

Jayne Eastwood Jayne Eastwood (born December 17, 1946), also credited as Jane Easton or Jane Eastwood, is a Canadian actress and comedian. She is best known for her film roles as Anna-Marie Biddlecoff in the comedy film ''Finders Keepers'' (1984), Judy the Wai ...

as Aunt Iris * Michael J. Reynolds as Senator Marks * Joan Luchak as Senator Marks' Wife * Lula Franklin as Granny Tapper *

Mike Wilmot Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

as Man at Wedding * George Hevenor as Bandleader * Arlene Meadows as Inn Proprietress * Don Allison as Desk Clerk * Ian D. Clark as Rufus * David Huband as Cop * Tony Craig as Cop * Kim Bourne as Waitress * Cara Chisholm as Waitress

Production

It was written by Leslie Dixon, who also wrote Bette Midler's 1987 film '' Outrageous Fortune''. Dixon came up with the idea for ''That Old Feeling'' in the early 1990s, after watching her own divorced parents act friendly to each other. She specifically had Midler in mind, who liked the original

spec script A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned and unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or ...

, but was locked into an exclusive contract with

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

at the time. Because of this, Dixon had to wait several years for Midler to become available before she could proceed with the project. When

got cast as Midler's husband, she rewrote his character as a crime novelist, in order to accommodate his gruff persona.

Release and reception

''That Old Feeling'' met with mixed reviews from critics, with a 43% "Rotten" rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, however 60% of fans like it. The film opened at #4 at the North American box office during April 1997, making $5.1 million

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

in its opening weekend. Lawrence Van Gelder gave the film a positive review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', calling it a "raucous, high-spirited romantic comedy, which zips along under the direction of Carl Reiner, working from a script by the sharp-witted Leslie Dixon." ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' critic John Anderson stated that it was a "very traditional comedy in a surreal sort of way" and "generally fun, thanks to old pros Midler and Farina, and Nucci, who plays Joey as a combination

Joe Pesci Joseph Frank Pesci ( , ; born February 9, 1943) is an American actor and musician. He is known for portraying tough, volatile characters in a variety of genres and for his collaborations with Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese in the films ''Rag ...

- Jerry Lewis." Chris Hicks of '' Deseret News'' labelled it " anti-family values comedy", and claimed "the film never quite lives up to its first feisty 15 or 20 minutes." The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

s Mark Caro criticized the film, writing, "Instead of focusing on how this couple re-explores their relationship after 14 years of estrangement, the movie scatters its attentions among a group of mostly unpleasant characters. Marshall projects a good-humored sweetness as Molly, but Denton's Keith is a stuffed shirt from the start, which is explained by the easy joke that he's a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. Lilly's husband, Alan (David Rasche), is a spineless New Agey therapist, and Dan's wife, Rowena, is a plastic surgery-enhanced shrew portrayed by former '' NYPD Blue'' bombshell Gail O'Grady, who's too young to be playing such a gross caricature." It was subsequently released to VHS on October 7, 1997, and then to

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

on April 28, 1998. In January 1998,

Siskel and Ebert Gene Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) and Roger Ebert (June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013), collectively known as Siskel & Ebert, were American film critics known for their partnership on television lasting from 1975 to Siskel's dea ...

included ''That Old Feeling'' on their "Worst Films of 1997" episode.

References

External links

* * * * {{Carl Reiner 1997 romantic comedy films 1997 films American romantic comedy films Comedy of remarriage films Films about weddings Films scored by Patrick Williams Films directed by Carl Reiner Films with screenplays by Leslie Dixon Universal Pictures films Adultery in films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films