Editing Reuben, Reuben

{{Short description|1983 American film directed by Robert Ellis Miller}}
{{About|the 1983 film|the opera by Marc Blitzstein|Reuben, Reuben (opera)|the old song|Reuben and Rachel}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Reuben, Reuben
| image = Reuben, Reuben - movieposter.jpg
| caption = ''Reuben, Reuben'' film poster
| director = [[Robert Ellis Miller]]
| writer = [[Peter De Vries]] (novel)<br />[[Julius J. Epstein]]<br />[[Herman Shumlin]] (''Spofford'' play)
| producer = Julius J. Epstein<br />[[Walter Shenson]]
| starring = [[Tom Conti]]<br />[[Kelly McGillis]]
| cinematography = [[Peter Stein (cinematographer)|Peter Stein]]
| editing = Skip Lusk
| music = [[Billy Goldenberg]]
| studio  = Saltair Productions<br>[[Taft Broadcasting Company|TAFT Entertainment Pictures]]
| distributor = [[Searchlight Pictures|Twentieth Century Fox International Classics]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Reuben, Reuben (1983)|website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]]|access-date=4 February 2022|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58058-REUBEN-REUBEN?sid=1bad80f0-ce13-4e4c-9fa4-57f90325394f&sr=10.815491&cp=1&pos=0}}</ref>
| released = {{Film date|1983|12|19|U.S.}}
| runtime = 101 min.
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget = $3.5 million
}}

'''''Reuben, Reuben''''' is a 1983 [[comedy-drama]] film directed by [[Robert Ellis Miller]] and starring [[Tom Conti]], [[Kelly McGillis]] (in her film debut), [[Roberts Blossom]], [[Cynthia Harris]], and [[Joel Fabiani]].<ref name= "Miller">{{cite news |last=Galloway |first=Stephen |url= https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/robert-ellis-miller-dead-reuben-reuben-director-was-89-970371 |title=Robert Ellis Miller, Director of 'Reuben, Reuben,' Dies at 89 |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=January 30, 2017 |accessdate=November 13, 2019}}</ref>

The film was adapted by [[Julius J. Epstein]] from the 1967 play ''Spofford'' by [[Herman Shumlin]], which in turn was adapted from the 1964 novel ''Reuben, Reuben'' by [[Peter De Vries]].<ref name= "vreview">{{cite news |url= https://variety.com/1982/film/reviews/reuben-reuben-1200425458/ |title=Reuben, Reuben |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=December 31, 1982 |accessdate=November 13, 2019}}</ref>

The main character in DeVries's novel was based largely on the Welsh poet [[Dylan Thomas]], who was a compulsive womanizer and lifelong alcoholic, finally succumbing to the effects of alcohol poisoning in November 1953, while on a speaking tour in America.<ref name= "Thomas">{{cite news |last=Champlin |first=Charles |url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-05-25-bk-7068-story.html |title=The Collected Letters of Dylan Thomas, edited by Paul Ferris (Macmillan: $39.95; 1,024 pp.) |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=May 25, 1986 |accessdate=November 13, 2019}}</ref>

==Plot==
Gowan McGland ([[Tom Conti]]) is a creatively blocked Scottish poet who ekes out a day-to-day existence by exploiting the generosity of strangers in an affluent [[Connecticut]] [[suburb]], where he recites his verse to various arts groups and women's clubs. Gowan is something of a leech, cadging expensive dinners from well-off patrons (usually stealing the tips afterward) while seducing their bored wives and affecting a superior attitude toward the smug [[bourgeois]] types he exploits.

Although a talented poet, he is a chronic drunk, indifferent to the wounds he can casually inflict with his wit. (When one of Gowan's middle-aged conquests undresses for him, he mutters, "Released from their support, her breasts dropped like hanged men," reducing her to tears.)

Gowan falls in love with a young college student, Geneva Spofford ([[Kelly McGillis]]), who has everything to lose from a relationship with a drunken deadbeat poet unable to hold a job.  Gowan instigates two ugly incidents that eventually cause their breakup: first, a bar fight from which Geneva rescues him, and later, when he causes a scene in a fancy restaurant where the waiters know he has stolen their tips.

He also suffers an ironic comeuppance from Dr. Jack Haxby ([[Joel Fabiani]]). The dentist, after finding out about the poet's affair with his wife, uses the ruse of free dental care for ruining Gowan's smile and forcing him to wear [[dentures]]. When Gowan finds out, it is already too late, and the damage is irrevocable.  (Gowan fears losing his teeth, equating it with death.)

Gowan prepares to hang himself, but while dictating his last thoughts into a [[tape recorder]], he comes up with some good lines and regains his will to write. Unfortunately, his host's pet dog, an [[Old English sheepdog]] named Reuben, comes bounding into the room, causing Gowan to lose his balance before he can undo the noose, turning the aborted suicide into accidental asphyxiation. The film's title comprises Gowan's final words, an unsuccessful attempt to halt the dog.

==Critical reception==
[[John Simon (critic)|John Simon]] of the ''[[National Review]]'' called ''Reuben, Reuben'' "dreadful".<ref>{{cite book |title=John Simon on Film: Criticism 1982-2001|last1=Simon|first1=John |publisher=Applause Books |year=2005 |page=83}}</ref>

''Reuben, Reuben'' holds a 100% rating on [[Rotten Tomatoes]] based on seven reviews {{as of|2023|lc=1}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/reuben_reuben|title = Reuben, Reuben|website = [[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date=2023-01-13}}</ref>

==Accolades==
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[56th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]<ref name="Oscars1984">{{Cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1984 |title=The 56th Academy Awards (1984) Nominees and Winners |access-date=2011-10-09 |work=oscars.org |archive-date=November 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171102051926/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1984 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name= "Conti">{{cite news |last=Lambert |first=Victoria |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/actors/Tom-Conti-interview/ |title=Tom Conti interview: 'Acting is a lousy job. It's a waste of a life' |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=September 12, 2015 |accessdate=November 13, 2019}}</ref>
| [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| [[Tom Conti]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Screenplay – Based on Material from Another Medium]]
| [[Julius J. Epstein]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[David di Donatello|David di Donatello Awards]]
| [[David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actor|Best Foreign Actor]]
| Tom Conti
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="3"| [[41st Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/reuben-reuben |title=Reuben, Reuben – Golden Globes |website=[[HFPA]] |access-date=July 5, 2021 |ref={{harvid|HFPA|1984}}}}</ref>
| colspan="2"| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama|Best Motion Picture – Drama]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama|Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama]]
| Tom Conti
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay – Motion Picture]]
| Julius J. Epstein
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[1983 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards|Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lafca.net/Years/1983.php |title=The Annual 9th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards |website=[[Los Angeles Film Critics Association]] |access-date=24 August 2021}}</ref>
| [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| Tom Conti
| {{Runner-up}}
|-
| [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music|Best Music Score]]
| [[Billy Goldenberg]]
| {{Runner-up}}
|-
| [[National Board of Review Awards 1983|National Board of Review Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1983/ |title=1983 Award Winners |website=[[National Board of Review]] |access-date=July 5, 2021}}</ref>
| [[National Board of Review Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| Tom Conti
| {{won}}
|-
| [[36th Writers Guild of America Awards|Writers Guild of America Awards]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1551|title=Awards Winners|work=wga.org|publisher=Writers Guild of America|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121205095022/http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1551|archive-date=2012-12-05|access-date=2010-06-06}}</ref>
| [[Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Drama – Adapted from Another Medium]]
| Julius J. Epstein
| {{won}}
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|tt0084591}}
*{{AFI film|id=58058}}
*[http://film.virtual-history.com/film.php?filmid=6605 Movie stills]

{{Robert Ellis Miller}}

[[Category:1983 films]]
[[Category:1983 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:American comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Films about suicide]]
[[Category:Films about writers]]
[[Category:American films based on plays]]
[[Category:Films directed by Robert Ellis Miller]]
[[Category:Films scored by Billy Goldenberg]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Julius J. Epstein]]
[[Category:Films set in Connecticut]]
[[Category:1980s English-language films]]
[[Category:1980s American films]]
[[Category:English-language comedy-drama films]]