moonspinner55 Early effort by writer-director-star Albert Brooks is a slimly-budgeted, tiresomely 'with-it' Hollywood comedy about a movie editor unable to get on with his life after a romance with glamorous but aloof Kathryn Harrold falls apart. It would be too easy to label this another "Annie Hall" knock-off, especially as Brooks has some smart ideas in lampooning the business of B-movies; however, an honest comparison between Woody Allen and Brooks does show how one filmmaker can reap timeless comedy and pathos from a failed-affair situation and how another writer-director cannot. There are too few jokes, too much whining, nudity from Harrold that appears to be used for shock value (not for titillation or for humor, which is useless in a comedy), but plenty of Brooks himself--which makes the film a love-it-or-leave-it venture for most mainstream audiences. ** from ****

DJAkin I saw this movie after Richard Roeper gave it a good review as a DVD pick of the week. I must say, that as a die hard ALBERT BROOKS fan, I am a huge fan of this MOVIE. Modern Romance is classic 1981 and the scenes where Albert is just walking around being depressed and neurotic about his romance with the girl is very funny. He is pathetic and obsessed with that girl. It's really funny when he takes a qualood and acts like he is on ambien. He calls some girl out of the blue and asks her out on a date. They go out on the date and instantly a MICHAEL JACKSON song comes on that is about breaking up. I laughed so hard that the beef jerky I was eating flew out of my hand!

nemkutya I love Albert Brooks. I cannot stress that enough. I was let down by this movie. Maybe I missed something? He breaks up "again" with his girlfriend and spends the rest of the movie pining for her and acting obsessively jealous.The whole Quaalude bit was just lame and not funny although when he puts on the disco record and says it's depressing was funny. Even though his girlfriend kept saying she loved and missed him I never believed it. I always felt she wanted to be somewhere else with someone else, so in the end when he asks her to get married and she says yes I couldn't believe it. I didn't feel Albert was up to his full neurotic obsessive potential, like he was holding back. O.K. movie but probably only bearable to Albert Brooks fans.

kristian3 I'll come straight out with it: This is my favourite film of all time.Albert Brooks is consistently the finest Writer, Director and Actor when it comes to the character driven comedy. And this is his finest moment.Robert Cole (Brooks) is a middle-aged, neurotic film editor, who continually breaks up and rekindles his relationship with Mary Harvard (Kathryn Harold).The film opens with a typically Brooksesk scene in a restaurant when he informs his girlfriend that things aren't working out. It is, perhaps, a measure of just how funny Brooks is that he even manages to be funny ordering an omelette; not intentionally, but funny nevertheless.What follows is the most brutal portrayal of what being insecure and neurotic can really do to you, and the empathy I experienced for Brooks' character is possibly unmatched by any other.I can appreciate that non-fans of Albert's might not fully appreciate this film - because it is so unashamedly Brooks - but I think most people will find something here to laugh-out-loud to, I know I laughed all the way through, and still do after dozens of replays.Make no mistake, watch this film today, and start to appreciate a genius who is under appreciated. Long live Albert.