steven@ism70.UUCP (11/27/84)
JUST THE WAY YOU ARE Starring Kristy McNichol, Michael Ontkean and Andre Dussolier. Also starring Kaki Hunter, Lance Guest, Alexandra Paul and Robert Carradine. Directed by Eduardo Molinaro. Written by Allan Burns. Produced by Leo Fuchs. From Metro Goldwyn Mayer. (1984) This is one of those films where everybody involved probably wishes the film had turned out, if not better, at least easier. _J_u_s_t_ _t_h_e_ _W_a_y_ _Y_o_u_ _A_r_e, formerly _I_ _W_o_n_'_t_ _D_a_n_c_e, began filming in 1982. Production shut down after Kristy McNichol, as they say in People magazine, suffered a "chemical imbalance". Lloyds of London paid off, but eventually agreements were reached to complete shooting of the remaining scenes a year and a half later. Now it's in your theatres. For the record, it's very difficult to figure out which scenes were part of the pickup shooting; one thing's for sure, Timothy Daly (Diner) sure looks better without all that baby fat on his cheeks. Kristy McNichol plays Susan Berlinger, a concert flutist who is pretty and smart but with one problem: a brace on her leg due to viral encephalitis as a youngster. This supposedly screws up her love life, despite the fact that three guys make moves on her in the first twenty minutes of the film. While on a concert tour of France she gets the idea to wrap her leg up in a plaster cast and take to the ski slopes to find romance like normal people. She meets photographer Michael Ontkean and off we go to the land of romantic comedy. Allan Burns has half a film here: the characters are wonderful, with witty dialogue and fleshed out lives. But his story just isn't there. Because you haven't been directed to guess how Kristy and Michael will get together at the end of the film, the story seems at times to drag interminably. Eduardo Molinaro must have been picked to direct on the success (back in 1982) of _L_a _C_a_g_e_ _A_u_x_ _F_o_l_l_e_s; here, his direction consists mainly of starting every shot of McNichol's leg from behind with a slow pan up the brace. Excruciating. It's also disconcerting to have fine young actors who have gone on to play the leads in films (Carradine in this summer's _R_e_v_e_n_g_e_ _o_f_ _t_h_e_ _N_e_r_d_s and Guest in _T_h_e_ _L_a_s_t _S_t_a_r_f_i_g_h_t_e_r) in throw away parts at the beginning of the film. Michael Ontkean seems way too old a love interest for McNichol's character to end up with. And who's the costume designer who had the bright idea of giving Kristy a white parka to wear while being photographed in the snow?? _J_u_s_t_ _t_h_e_ _W_a_y_ _Y_o_u_ _A_r_e feels like a French relationships movie. It's a pretty story about pretty people in a pretty environment. Not bad, but certainly no audience rouser. Two stars out of four.