Film

Nothing in Common (1986)

Director: Garry Marshall

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Hanks plays David Basner, slick creative director of an advertising agency. Trying to land a lucrative account, he negotiates with the irascible client while unwittingly falling into bed with his daughter. Meanwhile, David's grouchy father (Gleason) announces that David's mother (Saint) has left him after 33 years of marriage. As the familial crisis becomes increasingly intrusive, it not only affects David's work but forces him to reassess his relationship with his parents. This curiously broken-backed film begins as a hilarious satire on high-power advertising, but ends as a Terms of Endearment-style weepie about inter-generational conflicts. Thanks to Hanks and a razor-sharp script, the early scenes make the most of the frenetic, cutthroat action. When the film slips into a more serious vein, however, it simply treads water while threatening to drown in its own tears.

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