The new standard story line for romantic movies—boy meets girl, boy divorces girl—is wearing a little thin, but this fluffy comedy wrings what may be the final 109 minutes of entertainment out of the idea. Director Alan Pakula, whose previous films, like The Sterile Cuckoo, Klute and All the President's Men, tended to the portentous, shows a deft light touch with Burt Reynolds and Candice Bergen as an estranged couple. Pakula makes the most of Reynolds' mastery of the reaction shot (this is Burt's warmest and best comedy performance), while toning down Bergen. She is as adorable as usual without being so flip. Jill Clayburgh has been toned up; anxiety is still written all over her face but bemusement is there too. The supporting cast—Austin (The Front Page) Pendleton and Mary Kay (Mary Hartman) Place, to name two—is skillful, and there are a few delightful vignettes (at one meeting of Reynolds' club for divorced men, they discuss "worst Christmases"). This is a subtle comedy of looks, touches and attitudes, and a triumph for Pakula and his happy triangle. (R)
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