Something Short of Paradise | movie | 1979 | Official Featurette - video Dailymotion

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A young couple in New York are having problems with their relationship. | dG1fUmRvaHE2XzhfOUk

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00:00I think when it comes to romantic movies, we're living in the age of Annie Hall clones.

00:04Weak imitations of that fine film about the difficulties of men and women living together.

00:09Now, one of the worst clones of Annie Hall is a new movie called Something Short of Paradise.

00:13Just like in Annie Hall, a short Jewish writer-comedian, not Woody Allen, but this time David Steinberg,

00:18falls in love with a taller non-Jewish woman, not Diane Keaton, this time Susan Sarandon.

00:24They're oh so cute in her apartment as they play around with her telephone answering machine.

00:28Raph, I don't believe it. Go take your shot.

00:31You're correct, Raph?

00:32No, you can't. This is my machine. If you want to try, you go get your own machine.

00:35No, I hate those things.

00:36Well, then don't touch this.

00:37Oh, come on. Let me be your guest announcer.

00:41Please.

00:43All right. But you have to promise you won't screw it up, okay?

00:46Screw it up?

00:47Yes.

00:47Moo-a? No chance.

00:49Wait a minute.

00:50Okay.

00:50You ready?

00:51Hello.

00:51You ready?

00:51Yep.

00:52I'll wait.

00:53Okay.

00:56Hello.

00:56Madeline Ross can't come to the phone right now because we're making love.

01:01God, you're such a big...

01:02However, if you leave your name and your phone number, we'll get back to you right after we're finished.

01:06In 30 seconds.

01:08Ooh, nasty.

01:09Very charitable.

01:10No, I'm not finished. I'm not finished.

01:11Oh, come on.

01:12I just want to erase this because my mother has...

01:14My mother's going to be...

01:15Oh, I can feel your stomach vibrating.

01:20That's supposed to be my heartbeat.

01:22You must have a pacemaker.

01:24Maybe.

01:25Hmm?

01:27I'd love you.

01:28Yeah?

01:29Yeah.

01:31Yeah.

01:32It gets worse, too.

01:33And even more cute.

01:35Later in their relationship, they argue in a hallway between their separate apartments.

01:40Who is it?

01:41It's me.

01:43Paris, I want to talk to you.

01:45Come on in.

01:45No, come out of here.

01:46I want to talk to you right here.

01:47We could talk in here.

01:48I don't want to talk in your apartment.

01:50I want to talk to you out here somewhere where it's neutral.

01:52Okay.

01:56That's done.

01:56No, I'm going to talk to you.

01:57You are going to listen.

01:58This is going to be a completely unique experience.

02:00Would you mind for having a private conversation?

02:02Yes, I would mind.

02:04Do you know what time it is?

02:05You don't care what time it is.

02:06Look, I'm sorry about all of this.

02:08There's no need for anyone to get it.

02:08What do you mean you're sorry?

02:08Why are you apologizing to them?

02:10Why don't you apologize to me?

02:11I didn't mean it to them.

02:12I mean it to you.

02:12I'm sorry.

02:13It is five o'clock in the morning.

02:14That's what time it is.

02:15Well, great, then.

02:15Why don't you just go to bed?

02:17Why don't you go to your own apartment?

02:18I don't want to go to that apartment.

02:20Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

02:22Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep.

02:23That's a comedy sketch, not a real-life moment between two people.

02:27And when the couple in this film isn't performing comedy routines in a weak imitation of Annie Hall,

02:32they argue about their individual freedoms.

02:35They're boring as individuals, and they're boring as a couple.

02:37Yeah, the one thing I like about Annie Hall was that they were real contemporary people.

02:40Who had affection for each other.

02:42Who had affection, yeah.

02:43Here they seem to have been borrowing their entire personalities off of television.

02:46And that could have been a sketch from The Honeymooners or I Love Lucy.

02:48And when they stand next to each other in a shot, and you can see that it's just two actors standing there,

02:53reciting lines that have to be well-timed so that they don't interrupt or they remember a line from before,

02:59that isn't what a relationship is about, in person or on screen.

03:02We want to see these people look at each other and feel something.

03:05Right, and in this movie, they don't really stand next to each other that much.

03:07They're always analyzing the relationship in the third person.

03:09They're sitting at home alone thinking, even voiceover, thinking,

03:12what do I do now?

03:13What do I think about this guy?

03:14What should my next move be?

03:15Then they talk to their friends.

03:17They're always ruminating about the relationship.

03:18They're analyzing it.

03:19They're never in the same scene talking to each other.

03:21It's very distant somehow, very curious.

03:23Very rarely.

03:24Something Short of Paradise stars David Steinberg and Susan Sarandon.

03:27And we thought their love story was a mess, so we say no.

03:30Gene and I cannot recommend that you see Something Short of Paradise rated PG.

Something Short of Paradise | movie | 1979 | Official Featurette

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