Semi-Tough

Though not as sharp or as unusual as Ritchie's earlier Smile, this is still a delightful, gentle satire on the American ideal of winning, which also takes broad but often hilarious swipes at fashionable health fads. Concerning the cracks that appear in the strange ménage à trois between pro-footballers Reynolds and Kristofferson, and multi-divorcee Clayburgh, when the guru of a weird EST-style therapy cult finds a disciple in Kristofferson, the film succeeds because the comedy derives less from smart one-liners than from character. Although some of Ritchie's targets are a little obvious, what makes the film so appealing is the immense generosity extended toward the protagonists. Beautifully performed, subtly scripted, it accentuates the sadness of Ritchie's later descent into more conventional material.