Neil Simon's "I Ought to Be in Pictures" is a moving family drama, peppered with the author's patented gag lines and notable for sock performances by Dinah Manoff and Walter Matthau. Affecting, amusing interpersonal relationship pic bodes broad market appeal.,
Nimbly opened out from the 1980 stage version by helmer Herbert Ross (who also staged the play), film concerns a 19-year-old spunky Brooklyn girl Libby (Dinah Manoff reprising her stage role), who hitchhikes to New York to break into films as an actress but more importantly see her dad who left her, a brother and mom for good 16 years earlier. Dad is Herb Tucker (Walter Matthau fitted out with a handsome beard), a once-successful feature and tv scripter now given over to gambling and drinking. Tucker's loyal g.f. Steffie (Ann-Margret) is supportive but has her own children to take care of and a new boyfriend in the wings.
With Libby gradually insinuating herself into Herb's life and gradually reforming him (while cutely refurbishing his house and Mustang car), film gains its force from the powerful interplay of the duo's personalities. When the comical putdowns are replaced by genuine emotional (and physical) contact, Simon achieves his tear-jerking goal.
Key factor in making this work is apt casting, with Manoff, Lee Grant's sprig. Outstanding in avoiding direct sentimentality in the showy central role. She's also a good listener, with her eye contact and support of Matthau key elements. For his part, Matthau makes a ne'er-do-well character immensely sympathetic in spite of his shortcomings, enough so the viewer can root for these two to eventually come together in a loving fashion. Echoing the mother-daughter reconciliation of SImon's recent "Only When I Laugh", it builds to a valid denouement of Matthau geared up to plunge seriously into his writing assignments, and Manoff returning home with her family devils exorcised.
In a much smaller role, a deglamorized Ann-Margret is effective as the selfless mistress, while Martin Ferrero, Lewis Smith and Lance Guest provide a diveting scene apiece opposite Manoff. Tech credits, particularly Albert Brenner's production design and David M. Walsh's lighting, succeed in giving the film a realistic backdrop and avoiding a stagey or studio set look.
My review was written in March 1982 after a Midtown Manhattan screening.
