Max Dugan Returns

A family comedy set in Los Angeles. Nora teaches English at a high school. Her husband died years ago, she lives with her son and there is never enough money. Her car is stolen, the house is burgled and there is no rise at school. One night there is a knock at the door. The man is Max, the father who left her and her mother years ago. He is ill; by his own account he has a few months. He also has a large amount of cash with him. Max wants to stay and to spend. New furniture arrives, the kitchen is redone, baseball lessons are arranged for the boy and a car is bought for Nora. Nora asks where the money came from. The answer is not satisfying. Meanwhile a detective has entered her life; he is investigating the stolen car and notices the new things in the house. The humour is in that triangle: she is trying to manage both her father and her new relationship and has to keep them apart. Neil Simon wrote the screenplay. Marsha Mason plays Nora, Jason Robards plays Max and Donald Sutherland the detective. Matthew Broderick plays the son; it is his first film. Herbert Ross directed. A pleasant choice for anyone who likes the family comedies of the 1980s and narratives built on dialogue. For a viewer expecting realism, the film takes the source of the money lightly.