NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Graham Harvey This is one of those classic films labelled by some as amazing. I find the film indulgent, slow & tedious & incredibly annoying. All that whining and complaining and nasty back & forward sparring. If you can't find enough of that in the world already, then watch the movie. But if you are looking for a movie that will lift your spirits and not stress you out, avoid at all costs. I can say that comedy has evolved a lot since this period. Another reviewer criticised the portrayal of African Americans- valid point. But basically it just has this juvenile quality about it, a bunch of spoilt western prats who should know better. Towards the last half hour I found myself using the fast forward button

thinker1691 The great writing talent of Neil Simon, has little doubt achieved a stunning success. There are many shinning examples of his genius and this is one case in point. The film is called " California Suite " and has an impressive cast to make the movie work. Four couples from across the country arrive at this sunny resort for various reasons. First off are Mr. and Mrs Warren (Alan Alda and Jane Fonda) who arrive at the famous hotel to discuss their teen-age daughter and her decision to either return to New York or stay with her father in California. Although adult in their decision making, they nevertheless duel childishly with words over their different approaches. From across the Atlantic ocean arrive Mr. & Mrs Sidney Cochran (Michael Caine & Maggie Smith). He is there to give support to his wife, despite her misgivings about a nominated award. Walter Matthau stars as Marvin Michaels, from Philadelphia who's sex crazed brother (Harry Michaels) has set him up with a high priced hooker, prior to his wife's arrival. Finally there's Chauncey Gump (Richard Prior) and Willis Panama (Bill Cosby), two Dr.'s and their wives who arrive from Chicago and immediately start bickering over accommodations. Alda and Fonda are great as former married partners. Neil Simon gave them extremely good lines of dialog and it makes for a firm Tatate conversation. From Simon also came the rapid rapier exchange between Maggi Smith and Michael Caine. The playwright also created a superb character in Walter Mattau as he portrays a helpless husband, before his accusing wife. It is with laughter that Prior and Cosby are able to create such antics as to leave the hotel with a promise of revenge on their in-laws. As a result, the movie is as entertaining as a gifted playwright and superb actors can make it. A Classic result is the by-product for all audiences. ****

blanche-2 Neil Simon's 1978 film, California Suite, is four vignettes of couples descending upon Los Angeles at Oscar time: one couple (Maggie Smith and Michael Caine) for the Oscar ceremonies, two couples for vacation (Richard Pryor, Gloria Gifford, Bill Cosby, Sheila Frazer) one couple for a bar mitzvah (Walter Matthau and Elaine May), and one divorced couple (Alan Alda and Jane Fonda) to discuss their daughter.The film is a mix of comedy, slapstick, and drama, with the Fonda-Alda segment witty but serious, the Matthau-May segment hilarious, the Cosby-Pryor segment slapstick, and the Smith-Caine segment a classic. Their conversation in the hotel suite before the Oscar ceremony is one of the best acted, best written scenes ever written. "I'm a dark horse," Smith says of her Oscar nomination, entering the room in a gown. "They must have seen the dress," Caine concludes. This is probably the most fully fleshed-out story, with the truth behind their marriage emerging as Smith descends into drunkenness later on. That and the Matthau-May vignettes are the best, with the Alda-Fonda scene coming off as somewhat dated today. The weakest is the Pryor-Crosby.Entertaining - if you don't feel like watching the whole thing, just watch the Caine-Smith and Matthau-May.Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor try their best as doctor friends who are having an awful time on their vacation with their wives. It's just not that funny, despite them both being extremely likable.Alan Alda and Jane Fonda do well in their dramatic story of separated couple meeting after nine years to discuss their child. Their segment is too short to really have an impact, might have worked well as a feature film. It's not all that involving.Michael Caine and Maggie Smith are both excellent in their little segment, with Smith portraying an actress who's up for the academy award. Caine plays her show off gay husband. The two stars really shine in an otherwise average story, not all that interesting.

dglink Despite a talented all-star cast, "California Suite," which was based on a hit Neil Simon play, is a wildly uneven film. The episodic story traces several unrelated couples from across the U.S. that check into a Beverly Hills hotel. Like a comedic "Grand Hotel," the film cuts between the stories, although the editing makes no comments, ironic or otherwise, between the episodes. Actually, the often foolish, self-centered characters make "California Suite" more a "Ship of Fools" in the sunshine than a "Grand Hotel" under the palms. The original play was a follow-up to the more successful "Plaza Suite" and demonstrated Simon's shakier take on the West Coast than on the East. For the most part, the hotel guests speak and behave like the transplanted or visiting New Yorkers that they are.Jane Fonda portrays the ultimate New York snob, and her bitchy banter with ex-husband Alan Alda only underscores her arrogance and intolerance of anything that exists west of the Hudson. Alda is a New Yorker's stereotype of a Californian with pastel sweaters and perpetual tan. While a few amusing lines pass between the terminally mismatched couple, Fonda and Alda's episode is more grating than funny. However, the New York couple display Noel-Coward wit in comparison to the wasted talents and misfires in the scenes that involve Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby as vacationing doctors. The premise of two couples that arrive to find a reservation for only one has promise. However, director Herbert Ross should have studied Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd before he devised the broad, unfunny physical stunts that will leave viewers grateful that both Pryor and Cosby survived the mess and moved on to better material.However, the film does have some fine moments between comedic experts Walter Matthau and Elaine May. When Matthau arrives in LA a day early, his brother surprises him with a prostitute, who passes out from too much tequila and cannot be awakened in the morning. Of course, Matthau's wife, the always-delicious Elaine May, arrives, and the comedy moves into high gear. The best episode in the film, however, involves an English actress, Maggie Smith, and her bisexual husband, Michael Caine. The couple arrives to attend the Academy Awards, because Smith is a Best Actress nominee. While Smith has some of the best-written lines in the film, her role also has a depth and poignancy that goes far beyond the cardboard characters in the other episodes. Although Caine is equally fine, Smith's role is showier, and she won a deserved Academy Award for the part. The film's special irony is that the part of an Oscar-losing-actress won an Oscar for the actress who played her."California Suite" is one of those films in which a few superior scenes make it worthy entertainment, and the Smith-Caine episode pulls the film several notches higher than it otherwise deserves. Add the sparkling Matthau-May scenes, and there is at least one-half of a good movie. Although the Fonda-Alda episode is bearable and occasionally amusing, the Pryor-Cosby scenes are often labored and unfunny. However, with a strong finger on the fast-forward button, there is a good hour of comedy and fine performances to be had in this inconsistent film.