Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Claire Dunne One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Jonathan C An Unmarried Woman is a story from a particular time and place, and its virtue is that it captures that time and place very well. Jill Clayburgh plays Erica, an upper-middle class woman on New York's upper east side who is happily married, has a precocious daughter, an engaging job in an art gallery, and a seemingly happy and tranquil life. Suddenly one day her husband Martin, played by Michael Murphy, is walking down the street with her and breaks down in tears, announcing to her that he has fallen in love with another woman. For the audience, this scene is not a big surprise, since, after all, one probably knows the premise of the movie before one goes in. For Erica, however, it is a shock, and for all of the women who have had this scene played out for them in real life, it is an iconic moment of filmmaking, as we watch Erica stagger away and vomit into a garbage can.Like most moments in An Unmarried Woman, this one is not overdone, and it brings up the central virtue of the picture--it is real. Erica goes through a number of experiences on a general arc toward independence for herself--a date with a guy who is too forward, a one-night stand with an appealing co-worker, some therapy sessions to help her right the ship, and finally a new relationship. The movie takes place amidst the huge spike in divorce after the passage of no-fault divorce laws in the early 70s, and is really a time capsule toward the era where anxiety over divorce hit an all-time high. Paul Mazursky's screenplay is meticulously written, and Clayburgh is spot-on as the unmarried woman, trying from scene to scene to find her identity amidst personal and social chaos.There are some people who might say that it seems a bit gratuitous to feel sorry for Erica, given her charmed life even after the divorce; she seems, for example, to have no money problems, she keeps her awesome apartment, has great support from her friends. However, one should make no mistake that what happened to her was a crushing blow, and her struggle to find herself is very real. Clayburgh makes her character sympathetic by finding both the genuine profound sadness in the situation and the corresponding strength inside the character that she plays. The movie is rightly called a feminist movie because of Erica's transformation within a particular social current, but it is also simply a movie about a decent, likable person who took a blow and showed courage in recovering from it. In the end, the movie is both good drama and an important document of the times. Want to know about divorce anxiety in the 70s? This is your movie. Want to be touched by a woman finding her whole self? This is also your movie.

aboutagirly Jill Clayburgh plays an affluent New Yorker whose life crumbles when her husband reveals that's he's having an affair and wants a divorce. What's a woman to do when everything she's built her life around is suddenly whisked away? This feminist anthem from Paul Mazursky is well meaning but also condescending. It's a movie that was clearly made by a man, and it's a man's guess at what a feminist awakening would look and feel like, rather than the real thing. Therefore, it records Clayburgh's emotional development with the neatness of a house wife checking off items on a grocery list, and even throws in a lesbian daughter just to prove that there are women out there who don't need men at all, as if that's even remotely what feminism is about.Clayburgh is game, but she's better than the movie.

Shilpot7 It's very interesting reading the other reviews to this film. The reactions to it are very extreme. Some people love it. Some people hate it and that was exactly the reaction people had to it back in 1978 when it first came out.The mid to late 70s was New York's era as the 'fashionable city' in the days of fashionable cities. NYC took the torch from Swinging Sixites London as the city every fashionable person wanted to go to, live in, know... It was the 'Disco' capital of the world. It was where the most interesting films were set. It where all the happening artists lived and Unmarried Woman caught the zeitgeist of that time. Even jogging was a new phenomenon back then and NY lead the way with it and 'everyone' wanted to know what people were up to there, even about the jogging. If you'd never been to NYC you were missing out. If you had been to NY and or knew NY, back in 1978, you bragged about it. While at the same time the city was officially broke and in many ways seemed to be crumbling into the sea.Unmarried Woman was a product of all this fascination, both negative and positive, with the city at the time. Trivial details about life in NY had a sort of cachet. Therefore, on reflection, what may seem trite to viewers today, had a strange sort of value back then.Some people sneer at Erica's seemingly privileged position in society. How dare she be so miserable, have you seen where she lives? Well, guess what, wealthy women also feel sad when they are rejected by their husbands for a younger model. And guess what, some people like to look at the lives of people who live in beautiful apartments with views of the river and whizz downtown in yellow cabs on bright New York mornings. In fact it's the contrast between the material privilege and the sadness and loss that makes this film work.Some people are also alarmed by the strong, upfront musical score. Sorry about that. Music in the 70s was strong and upfront in our lives, not just background noise. The wailing saxophone was the pop instrument of the time and the excellent, very 70s soundtrack, is one of the aspects that make watching this film such a powerful, nostalgic and enjoyable ride.Unmarried Woman does have its flaws. It is at times somewhat simplistic and personally, I'm not so sure that newly unmarried woman, Erica, was as much of a catch as we're made to believe. Every man she meets seems to fall at her feet.This is very much a film of its time and a very interesting time and place it was. I wish they still made films like this today, about adults, for adults, with strong subtle performances, without both eyes on the cash register and without some dreary, over-exposed, under talented box office 'star' drudging her way through her lines. There was something very adult and sophisticated about American cinema in the 70s and Unmarrried Woman takes its place in the long list of films that were a part of that.The film was beautifully shot, beautifully scored, excellently acted and I'm glad it's now available for us to see, as a reminder of a short but memorable time and place.

emilie_ille When I first saw An Unmarried Woman, I saw me! The same thing had happened to me. I felt like I was the only one something like this had ever happened to. Jill's performance was solid and right on and she should have won the Oscar! All of her supporting cast were great! I guess I am different, but I loved the music. It helped to make the movie outstanding! There are several films that when I saw them, they made such an permanent mark in my mind, I will see them over and over again.Looking for Mr. Goodbar is one. The Big Chill is another. Body Heat is a fantastic movie. When I saw Looking for Mr. Goodbar, I was sitting alone in the theater and when Tuesday Weld said, "No one should be along on New Year's Eve", I cried, because it was New Year's Eve.