''The Buddy System'' is a 1984 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film starring

Richard Dreyfuss Richard Stephen Dreyfuss (; born Dreyfus; October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for starring in popular films during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, including ''American Graffiti'' (1973), ''Jaws'' (1975), ''Close Encounters of the T ...

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actorMcCabe, Bruce"Susan Sarandon, the 'actor'" ''Boston Globe''. April 17, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2021. and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, ...

, Nancy Allen,

Wil Wheaton Richard William Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gordie Lachance in the film ''Stand by Me (film), Stand by Me'', Joey Trotta in '' ...

and

Jean Stapleton Jean Stapleton (born Jeanne Murray; January 19, 1923 – May 31, 2013) was an American character actor, character actress of stage, television and film. Stapleton was best known for playing Edith Bunker, the perpetually optimistic and dev ...

. The film was directed by Glenn A. Jordan who is better known for directing and producing numerous

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

s and

television drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms t ...

s. The film follows the story of a cautious single mother who forms an unlikely friendship with her son's school security guard. ''The Buddy System'' was

's first major film role and his second non-television role after the 1983 film ''

Hambone and Hillie ''Hambone and Hillie'' is a 1984 American comedy-drama film about a dog (Hambone) separated from his owner (Hillie). The dog treks from New York to Los Angeles, meeting a host of helpers along the way. It was directed by Roy Watts, and starred Li ...

''.

Plot

Emily Price is a

single mother A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include divorce, break-up, abandonment, becoming wid ...

: she got pregnant in high school and was abandoned by the father before her son, Tim, was born. She and Tim live with her mother, who is both protective and disparaging, and tends to overlook her daughter in favor of her grandson. She is trying to become a

court reporter A court reporter, court stenographer, or shorthand reporter is a person whose occupation is to capture the live testimony in proceedings using a stenographic machine, thereby transforming the proceedings into an official certified transcript b ...

, but freezes up every time she takes the test. Joe comes into their lives when he is sent out to do a residency check by the school: Emily and Tim have been lying about where they live so he can go to a better school. The price for Tim is loneliness: he can't tell anyone where he lives. Joe, who is an aspiring novelist and an inventor of gadgets, decides not to report them and strikes up an unlikely friendship with Tim that gradually escalates to include Emily as well. Previous romantic entanglements - for Emily, the withholding Jim; for Joe, the beautiful but self-absorbed Carrie - intervene while Emily gains courage and independence and Joe comes to understand where his real talents lie.

Cast

as Joe *

as Emily Price * Nancy Allen as Carrie *

as Mrs. Price *

as Tim Price * Edward Winter as Jim Parks *

Keene Curtis Keene Holbrook Curtis (February 15, 1923 – October 13, 2002) was an American character actor. Early life Curtis was born in Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (poli ...

as Dr. Knitz *

Milton Selzer Milton Selzer (October 25, 1918 – October 21, 2006) was an American stage, film, and television actor. Early life Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Selzer and his family moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire where he was raised. After graduating fro ...

as Landlord * F. William Parker as Lawyer

External links

* * * * 1984 films American romantic comedy-drama films 1980s romantic comedy-drama films 20th Century Fox films Films scored by Patrick Williams Films directed by Glenn Jordan 1984 comedy films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films {{1980s-romantic-comedy-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

External links