Beyond Therapy

1987, U.S., 93m, DCP

Showtimes & Tickets

Screened March 24, 2020

Part of the program

A frantic and romantic farce populated by New York neurotics clearly in need of better shrinks, this rare Robert Altman gem has been kept in the closet too long. Openly bisexual hunk Bruce (Jeff Goldblum) lives with his boyfriend Bob (a pre-Waiting For Guffman Christopher Guest) but is pursuing liaisons outside the relationship. When he places a personal ad in New York Magazine, a bizarre dinner date with Prudence (Julie Hagerty, as charmingly frazzled as ever) sets off a chain of intersecting hijinks compounded by comically unhelpful therapy sessions; brace yourselves for a delightfully daffy Glenda Jackson as an analyst who frequently slinks out of her sessions for precisely-timed afternoon delight. Co-adapted by gay playwright Christopher Durang from his hit off-Broadway show, Altman’s trademark overlapping dialogue and manic ensemble work are in full force here with an added dash of unapologetic absurdity (case in point: the film is set in New York but very noticeably shot in Paris). Irreverently 80s yet refreshingly modern in its depiction of multiple queer characters, this gag-fest endures as a campy reminder that we’re all just crazy in love.

A film by Robert Altman