Neil Simon plays—witty, mannered and sophisticated—usually fail on film. But Plaza Suite's West Coast cousin transcends that past. Vignettes of five couples at war in the Beverly Hills Hotel are intercut smoothly and delightfully. Two of the pieces are erratic. Walter Matthau has a funny face and manner but not enough funny lines when his wife, Elaine May, finds a hooker in his room. Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor engage in what was obviously intended as a scherzo, but which degenerates into sad slapstick. The Suite's two andante movements, however, more than carry the movie. Tough New York writer Jane Fonda and laid-back California scenarist Alan Alda, a long-divorced pair, disagree painfully about their daughter's future. And Michael Caine plays a gay antique dealer married to over-the-hill actress Maggie Smith. Affecting and funny, these two couples make the movie California Bittersweet. (PG)
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