rudyardk
An utter, utter disappointment -- clearly, no-one involved with this production had any idea about what made the original MTM series work. After a moderately amusing update of the MTM show theme by Joan Jett, the film goes immediately downhill, with one witless, dull scene following another. Stars Moore and Harper try hard, but are completely at sea when faced with pedestrian direction, a bland, unmemorable supporting cast, and -- worst of all -- a truly awful script by one Katie Ford. Sadly, Ford seems to think she's writing the reunion movie "Lucy and Ethel", and apparently has been told to 'make it clichéd and dramatic ... but not too dramatic'. Tellingly, not a single person from the original 70s classic series (aside from the two lead actresses) had any involvement with this reunion. James L. Brooks and Allan Burns don't even get credited for creating the original characters! Of course, looking at the finished product, it's entirely possible they petitioned to have their names removed from this film. If so, they made the right decision.
BaileySEA
Why did the histories of Mary and Rhoda have to be so dour? Divorced women with indifferent daughters. And why very little reference to the original show and characters? The daughter characters were silly and uninteresting. Why can't there ever be daughters who like their mother's on TV? It makes sense that Mary would leave Minneapolis, and Rhoda would return to NYC, but why couldn't Phyllis or Sue Ann Nivens be guest stars? It just seems a pitiful way to remember such wonderful characters. It was good to see Mary and Rhoda together of course, but it could have been better, much better. Well, there has been a Mary Tyler Moore Show Reunion, a Dick Van Dyke Show Reunion, hopefully Mary will do better next time if she revisits her old Mary Richards stomping grounds again.
Stefan Kahrs
This film is not devoid of charm and also shows a bit of warmth, but ultimately this effort is too vain and too strongly focussed on the leads. There is no doubt that Mary Tyler Moore knows what to do with all her screen time but she takes too much of the limelight away from the rest of the cast.Another problem is the overburdening of the script with cliches. The daughter who secretly drops out of college, an older woman finding it difficult to get a good job (and first ends up with fairly demeaning work), the sleazy network executive with his executive toys who goes for glitz over substance, the journalist who sticks up for her beliefs, etc. There is nothing really wrong with any of these, i.e. they are all firmly rooted in reality, but in combination they are just too much and leave us with too much deja-vu and too few surprises.
bekayess
So Mary and Rhoda have aged--who hasn't? I was a teen when Mary premiered, and a "young adult" when it left the air. Yes, it was great to see Mary and Rho together, and yes, maybe the film didn't sustain the comedy of the original series, but there were enough moments that recalled the spirit of the series to make this a fitting tribute. Example: the producer who hires Mary and then dictates the idea for a new series about "old people." Isn't this typical of the mentality of present-day Hollywood TV and film "bean counters?" This may not be THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW at its best--but it's a pretty damned good look back at one of the best shows we grew up with in the 70s.
AD
