moonspinner55
John Belushi never had much chemistry with any of the women in his movies (not even with the female regulars on "Saturday Night Live"), which makes this attempt to turn him into a romantic leading man a curious one at best, an ineffective one at worst. Belushi plays a hard-news reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, so popular around the city that cab drivers and working girls applaud him on the streets. After an expose on a crooked city councilman results in an attack on his life, Belushi's editor gives him on out-of-town assignment: traveling to the Rockies to write a piece on a female ornithologist doing research on bald eagles. This slick, mild amusement might have been perfectly acceptable as TV-movie, but is revealed to have no depth or character when blown up on the big screen. Director Michael Apted, screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan and Steven Spielberg's production company all apparently wanted this to be a Tracy and Hepburn update, a benign, PG-rated family picture to bring Belushi into the mainstream. It's a noble attempt, and the star does show flickers of personality (he gives the finger in his first close-up). But there's nothing much happening between Belushi and Blair Brown, and Kasdan doesn't seem to know much about mountain life, to say nothing of how newspapers work. ** from ****
Peter Swanson
This movie gives me one more reason to wish that John Belushi had taken care of himself, rather than diving into self-destruction. It shows that he had talent well beyond sketch comedy, or Animal House buffoonery. I wish he were still with us.I'm a sucker for romantic comedies, and -- while not as comedic as most of the genre -- I think Continental Divide definitely qualifies. It's a great "opposites attract" film, and it works for me. The fact that each of the central characters has a vocational passion makes them all the more attracted to each other, despite their callings being separated by a lot of geography, and a lot of psychological differences. I love the scenery, I love Blair Brown, and I love the energy of Belushi's character. We can't bring him back, but I'm thankful we have J.B.'s films to watch forever.
Lee Eisenberg
John Belushi - who would have turned 58 today - is remembered as Bluto Blutarsky ("Animal House"), Wild Bill Kelso ("1941"), Jake Blues ("The Blues Brothers"), and various "SNL" characters; all totally wacky. In "Continental Divide", he got what was probably his one serious role. Although most people pooh-poohed it, I didn't find it that bad. As a Chicago reporter developing a relationship with an eagle researcher (Blair Brown) in the Rocky Mountains, Belushi got the chance to say that he had one serious role before his untimely death. If that is the movie's only real strength, then so be it. It may be worth seeing just for that.And if I may add one thing: people need to give "1941" another chance.
Tom Byrd
I have long been a believer in the principle that any great comic must first be a great actor. One of the dumbest comments about a film to me is "I knew he/she was a great comic, but I didn't realize he/she could really act." No one who saw Belushi on Saturday Night Live could possibly doubt that he was a great actor. In Continental Divide, he got a chance to broaden his acting into romantic comedy. As Ernie Soucek, a character based on real-life Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mike Royko, Belushi is sent out of Chicago by his editor to keep him safe from a labor racketeer Ernie is after in a hard-hitting series of columns.His assignment is Nell Porter (Blair Brown), an ornithologist who studies bald eagles in the Rockies. It's "the city mouse and the country mouse" on one level, which gives Belushi the chance at some slap-stick comedy with a backpack (among other things).Belushi is a thoroughly believable character throughout, whether in his element on the streets of Chicago, or learning about the new and different world of bald eagles and the beautiful woman who cares passionately about them. Ernie learns to love the eagles, and the woman, and he meets a "wild" mountain man who happens to be a former football player he admired, another element which binds city and country together.I loved this movie, and it bears re-watching. My entire family, as a matter of fact, liked it when it first came out. Guess we're all just romantics at heart!
AD
