Beyond Therapy (1986)

25% of critics liked it
(8 reviews)
31% of users liked it
(1,177 ratings)

Based on the play by Christopher Durang, Robert Altman's Beyond Therapy is a comedy set in New York City but filmed in Paris, where Altman was living at the time. Arrogant Bruce (Jeff Goldblum) grows bored with his live-in lover, Bob (Christopher Guest), so he looks for a change by placing an ad in… More Based on the play by Christopher Durang, Robert Altman's Beyond Therapy is a comedy set in New York City but filmed in Paris, where Altman was living at the time. Arrogant Bruce (Jeff Goldblum) grows bored with his live-in lover, Bob (Christopher Guest), so he looks for a change by placing an ad in the personals. He meets neurotic Prudence (Julie Hagerty) at a French restaurant and they prove to be a terrible match-up. Then Bruce goes to see his therapist, Charlotte (Glenda Jackson), who has a strange disorder herself. In the same building, Prudence goes to see her own bizarre therapist, Stuart (Tom Conti), who believes in sex with his patients. Charlotte and Stuart also have an arrangement where they meet for anonymous sexual trysts. Meanwhile, Bob's mother (Genevieve Page) is worried about her son's relationship with Bruce and she interferes with everything. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 33 min.
Directed By: Robert Altman
Written By: Robert Altman, Christopher Durang
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Feb 27, 1987 Wide
On DVD: Dec 2, 2003
Studio: New World Video

Critic Reviews

Vincent Canby, New York Times
There's no special logic at work. The performances are good, but the film has been assembled without an overriding sense of humor and style.
Pat Graham, Chicago Reader
He needs more characters to play with than Durang's analyst's couches and restaurant trysts can provide, and simply hasn't the body count to fill in the vacant frames.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
It's a movie in which every scene must have seemed like a lot of fun at the time, but, when they're edited together, there's no pattern to the movie, nothing to build toward, no reason for us to care. It's all behavior.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Robert Altman adapted Christopher Durang's play for this peculiar comedy that can't ever seem to find its rhythm.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Steven C

In the 1980s Robert Altman released a string of films that were based on popular plays, "Beyond Therapy" was one of them. While the film has some laugh out loud moments, some very funny dialogue and extremely spirited and zany performances, Altman's lack of narrative… More
In the 1980s Robert Altman released a string of films that were based on popular plays, "Beyond Therapy" was one of them. While the film has some laugh out loud moments, some very funny dialogue and extremely spirited and zany performances, Altman's lack of narrative focus ultimately hurts the film. Altman's directorial voice is lost here, because in all honesty, this seems like a direct copy of a Woody Allen picture. There isn't much originality to speak of. Plus, with a film that contains such an array of wackos, you need something for the audience to ground themselves in, and "Beyond Therapy" has none of that- no every man, no coherent arc. This is a funny but extremely unfocused and messy film.