Only When I Laugh

Only When I Laugh (1981)

  • 50% of critics liked it
    (6 reviews)

  • 38% of users liked it
    (659 ratings)

Playwright Neil Simon made one of his periodic forays into serious themes with the drama The Gingerbread Lady, and while this screen adaptation adds a bit more wit to the proceedings, it remains a change of pace from his usual breezy comedies. Georgia (Marsha Mason) is a successful actress who has… More

R, 2 hr.
Directed By
Glenn Jordan
Genres
Drama, Comedy
In Theaters
Sep 25, 1981 Wide
On DVD
Sep 23, 2003

Critic Reviews

  • Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

    Neil Simon reworked his play Gingerbread Lady for this tale of alcoholic actress (real wife Marsha Mason) and precocious daughter, but the result is just as stagy, schmaltzy and predictable, with the expected witty but utterly theatrical one-liners.

  • Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com

    Belabored Neil Simon script with Marsha Mason.

  • Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

    Only When I Laugh is a film about family ties, friendship and coping in a competitive world.

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

  • AJ V


    This starts out as a good drama about a mother and daughter, but it gets more and more predictable as it goes on. The actors are good, and I like theatre themed movies, but this one is just okay.

Cast

See full cast

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