Parents' Guide to

Irreconcilable Differences

By Brian Costello, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Dated comedy about divorce, with sex, nudity, drugs.

Movie PG 1984 113 minutes
Irreconcilable Differences Poster Image

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What's the Story?

In IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES, Casey Brodsky (Drew Barrymore) has had enough. The 10-year-old is sick of the fighting and the self-centered behavior of her divorced parents, famous director Albert Brodsky (Ryan O'Neal) and famous novelist Lucy Van Patten Brodsky (Shelley Long). So she consults with her lawyer and sues her parents for divorce. While there's a media circus outside the courtroom, inside, Albert, Lucy, and Casey retrace the history of their family. Albert and Lucy talk of when they first met and how they fell in love. They discuss the early years of their marriage and the transformation of Albert from a geeky film buff professor into a highly esteemed director. They discuss the birth of Casey. As Casey grows up, Albert's success clearly goes to his head and he has an extramarital affair with a young starlet (Sharon Stone). As Lucy struggles to get by, Albert lives in an enormous mansion in Beverly Hills, and their mutual resentment toward each other overshadows the love and care they should be giving to Casey. As Albert loses everything after making a musical about the Civil War that bombs at the box office, Lucy's tell-all novel about her marriage to and divorce from Albert becomes a best-seller. While success goes to her head, it's Albert's turn to struggle, but Casey remains overlooked by both of them. No matter how the divorce proceedings turn out, it's clear that Casey wants her parents to see the error of their ways and learn to be less egotistical -- and to be better parents.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

While no doubt at the time an engaging twist on divorce -- a child divorcing her estranged parents -- this movie, while occasionally funny, doesn't quite stand the test of time. Through flashbacks and present-day courtroom testimony, Irreconcilable Differences bounces around between being a bittersweet romance, a parody of all things Hollywood, and a vehicle for young E.T.-era Drew Barrymore to say precocious things. It manages to get all three of these elements to work at times, but they don't always work together. Even with their backstory, it's hard to know if you're supposed to like or dislike the parents -- if they're inherently selfish or merely driven to that state by The Seductive Evils of Tinsel Town.

But there are some truly funny moments that have held up. The parody of box office bomb Heaven's Gate -- a Civil War musical entitled Atlanta that leads to the downfall of Ryan O'Neal's pretentious and egotistical auteur character -- is perfectly absurd in its excess. The parody of egomania in the worlds of writing and film never feels dated. Nonetheless, the movie feels like a "high concept" idea ("A child divorces her parents") tacked on to the story of how a couple met, fell in love, and then fell out of love. The pieces aren't entirely discordant, but they don't exactly fit, either.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about movies that are about divorce. This is a comedy, but what do you think is the deeper message Irreconcilable Differences is trying to express?

  • In Hollywood, "high concept" is the term given to a movie that can be easily summarized in one sentence. What would be the one sentence summary of this movie? What are some other examples of movies whose stories can be summarized in just a few words?

  • What are some of the ways in which the movie seems dated? If you could remake the movie or suggest an update, how would you do it?

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