A successful advertising executive finds his freewheeling life crashing to a halt when his parents end their longtime marriage.
Acting
Gleason's final performance is devastatingly tender.
Direction
Marshall balances slapstick with genuine grief.
Writing
Hanks' character arc from jerk to human.
Director
Garry Marshall
Tom Hanks
David Basner
Jackie Gleason
Max Basner
Eva Marie Saint
Lorraine Basner
Héctor Elizondo
Charlie Gargas
Barry Corbin
Andrew Woolridge
Bess Armstrong
Donna Mildred Martin
Sela Ward
Cheryl Ann Wayne
John Kapelos
Roger the Commercial Director
Bill Applebaum
Ted Geller
Anthony Starke
Cameron
Julio Alonso
Rick
Jane Morris
Dale
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Jackie Gleason's final film; he was dying of cancer during production and knew it.
Garry Marshall called this his most personal film, inspired by his own father's illness. The Chicago locations ground it in working-class authenticity rare for 80s Hollywood.
US
