California Suite

Neil Simon had one of the better works of 1978 as his comedy drama "California Suite" is a really well done take on the adventures and ups and downs of life and he shows it with an intersection of different characters all who check in and out of a Beverly Hills Hotel. Yet the characters involved have come for different reasons still all involved face personal dilemmas.

This movie is mildly enjoyable, thanks to the amazing cast alone. With a cast like this, it should have been a lot better than it was.

Neil Simon's four story comedy about the goings on at a posh Los Angeles hotel is only funny about 1/2 the time. Alan Alda & Jane Fonda spar as exes deciding who should have custody of their teenage daughter.

Four separate plotlines interesect during the Academy Awards. Alan Alda and Jane Fonda shine as a divorced couple who've since taken different routes in life.

I kind of enjoyed this when I first saw it in the early 1980s but it hasn't stood the test of time.The Richard Prior / Bill Cosby bickering storyline is painfully unfunny.

When I saw "California Suite", I knew I was supposed to love the film. After all, it's based on a Neil Simon play and it won Maggie Smith an Oscar.

Four separate plotlines interesect during the Academy Awards. Alan Alda and Jane Fonda shine as a divorced couple who've since taken different routes in life.

Having always felt that Neil Simon's work, though generally wonderful, can be hit and miss, California Suite seems to represent this more than any of his other pieces. Clearly he is a writer for performers and how well some of them respond here.

Four separate stories (all written by Neil Simon)that take place at the Beverly Hills Hotel. There's brittle sarcastic Hannah Warren (Jane Fonda) meeting with her divorced husband Bill (Alan Alda) over custody of their child Jenny (a very young Dana Plato).