Reuben, Reuben

Reuben, Reuben is a 1983 comedy drama film. It stars Tom Conti, Kelly McGillis, Roberts Blossom, Cynthia Harris, and Joel Fabiani. The film was adapted by Julius J. Epstein from the play Spofford by Herman Shumlin, which in turn was adapted from the novel Reuben, Reuben by Peter De Vries. It was directed by Robert Ellis Miller. The main character in DeVries's novel was based largely on the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, who was a compulsive womanizer a... more

Reuben, Reuben is a 1983 comedy drama film. It stars Tom Conti, Kelly McGillis, Roberts Blossom, Cynthia Harris, and Joel Fabiani. The film was adapted by Julius J. Epstein from the play Spofford by Herman Shumlin, which in turn was adapted from the novel Reuben, Reuben by Peter De Vries. It was directed by Robert Ellis Miller. 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. The first half of the film shows Gowan McGland (Tom Conti), a creatively blocked Scottish poet, cutting a swath through various older society women as he recites his verse to various arts groups and cultural societies. The tone is very much uneasy social comedy: McGland cadges expensive dinners from well-off patrons (usually stealing the tips afterward) while seducing their bored wives and affecting superiority... less