Robert was madly in love with Mary. Mary was madly in love with him. Under the circumstances they did the only thing they could do... they broke up.

If it's not love, what is it?

He thought dating would be easy ...

Opening well past the point favored by most romantic comedies, director/co-writer/star Albert Brooks' take on the genre begins with a breakup. After exchanging harsh words in a diner, Brooks and Kathryn Harrold go their separate ways. Brooks then spends the next few days attempting to forget his troubles through work, exercise, drugs, and other women, torturing himself at each step. While it's hinted early on that this isn't the couple's first breakup, it eventually becomes clear that the they have cycled through the same events for even longer than expected. Meanwhile, Brooks' character, a film editor assisted by Bruno Kirby, attempts to put the finishing touches on his latest assignment, a none-too-promising space adventure starring George Kennedy and helmed by a details-obsessed director (James L. Brooks


Bruno Kirby co-stars as Jay, Robert's co-worker and confidant, and Brooks' brother Bob Einstein, best known as hapless daredevil Super Dave Osborne, plays a pushy salesman at a sporting goods store.
A third brother, Cliff, has a cameo in the scenes set in the recording studio. He plays the music mixer, the bald man sitting to the left of the head mixer, who gets up and goes to his car during the break.
David, the director of the film that Robert is editing, is played by real-life film director James L. Brooks - no relation to Albert. He would later return the favor by casting Albert in his Academy Award-nominated role of Aaron Altman in "Broadcast News".
According to Albert Brooks, Stanley Kubrick was a big fan of the film. He tells the story that Kubrick called him after viewing the film and asked "How did you make this movie? I've always wanted to make a movie about jealousy


Release Date: March 19, 1981

Distrib: Columbia

Boxoffice: $2,863,642