Starting Over (1979)

Directed by Alan J. Pakula. With Burt Reynolds, Jill Clayburgh, Candice Bergen, Charles Durning. A divorced man falls in love, but somehow he can't get over his ex-wife. This affects his love life in comic ways. Based on Dan Wakefield's novel.

Starting Over is a 1979 American comedy film based on Dan Wakefield's novel, produced by James L. Brooks, and directed by Alan J. Pakula

Burt Reynolds plays Phil Potter, a low-key, contented magazine writer who tries to put his life back together after his wife (Candice Bergen) opts for indepe...

Set adrift by his wife Jessica's announced desire to leave him and pursue a career as a professional singer, Phil Potter (Burt Reynolds) is confused and devastated. He leaves their home and goes to spend some time with his relatives who are, not coincidentally, psychiatrists. He joins a support group consisting of other divorced men and finds consolation where he can. Jessica (Candice Bergen), meanwhile, is discovering that no matter how well-dressed and attractive a person is, in order to be a singer one actually has to be able to sing; unfortunately, singing is not one of her talents. Phil meets Marilyn Holmburg (Jill Clayburgh), a gentle and unassuming schoolteacher who refuses to commit herself to him. This adult comedy was well received by many critics and easily made back its costs at the box-office.

Amazon.com: Starting Over: Burt Reynolds, Jill Clayburgh, Candice Bergen, Charles Durning, Frances Sternhagen, Austin Pendleton, Mary Kay Place, MacIntyre Dixon, Jay O. Sanders, Charles Kimbrough, Richard Whiting, Alfie Wise, Sven Nykvist, Alan J. Pakula, Douglas Wick, Isabel Halliburton, James L. Brooks, Dan Wakefield: Movies & TV

Overview of Starting Over, 1979, directed by Alan J. Pakula, with Burt Reynolds, Jill Clayburgh, Candice Bergen, at Turner Classic Movies

Starting Over captures the sting of loving someone despite knowing he is going to break your heart.

THE newly divorced husband has long been Hollywood's forgotten man.

It's painfully obvious where "Starting Over" got its inspiration—or, rather, where It didn't get inspiration enough. It's a movie made by people who loved "An Unmarried Woman." And, indeed, it even includes the star of "An Unmarried Woman," Jill Clayburgh, but she's not in the middle this time, because "Starting Over" could have been called "An Unmarried Man." The man is Burt Reynolds, caught between an unhappy marriage with Candice Bergen and an unsettled love affair with Clayburgh.

Starting Over (1979) Directed by: Alan J. Pakula. Written by: James L. Brooks based on the novel by Dan Wakefield.