The narration starts in present time, with a pretty straight-forward story about getting two (very) ageing stars together at a reunion-concert. Then you get the obligatory cut-backs to their stories as they were, leading up to the main even. Thus meaning James Caan looks old where he's supposed to be young, whereas Bette Midler is (badly) made up to look old in the present, and can barely pull off being young in the past.
Caan and Midler are front and centre for most of the scenes, and they do have a great spark, particularly on stage. Midler never was a great actress, but this film plays to her strengths as she gets plenty of time on a stage, in front of a big band, revelling in the awe of a full room of sailors. Caan is mostly her side-kick, as perfectly captioned by the poster for the film. Arye Gross has the mishap of playing the non-character turned essential through coincidence, as Midler's chauffer in the present. He does so with due diligence and produces enough warmth to make you care about Midler by exposing her not too well hidden soft core. Other than that, all actors are basically extras.
The run-time here is almost two and a half hours, but as mentioned the present-story isn't worth more than 5 minutes, and the flash-backs are generally longer than necessary. Hence the length of the film is mostly shoddy editing. Though generally it's lacking in priority as director Mark Rydell prefers to tell a little about most things, refusing to make the necessary choices to give it a good flow and keep the audience entertained at all times.
Apart from the great chemistry between the leads, this film does offer an array of emotions and it does them well. From the filled hangars of soldiers, to the fear of death in war, the pain of loss, and the tediousness of growing old with the highs (and lows) of your life behind you.
So it's a nice film, but it could have needed a more disciplined hand on both editing and and directing. Perhaps the star producing wasn't such a great idea. But the final scene is gorgeous, and the last words magnificently sentimental, alone worth the watch.
6/10
