Scenes From A Mall [1991] Woody Allen Bette Midler

Scenes from a Mall (1991)


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102849/

Scenes from a Mall is a 1991 satirical film directed by Paul Mazursky with a screenplay by Roger L. Simon and Mazursky, starring Bette Midler and Woody Allen. Woody Allen's character, Nick, is married to author Deborah, played by Midler. After years of a happy marriage, Nick reveals to her he's had an affair. Deborah is shocked and requests a divorce, but later admits she herself has been unfaithful. The film was shot at the Stamford Town Center in Stamford, Connecticut and the Beverly Center in Los Angeles, California and was set at the Beverly Center.

Bette Midler ... Deborah Fifer
Woody Allen ... Nick Fifer
Bill Irwin ... Mime
Daren Firestone ... Sam
Rebecca Nickels ... Jennifer
Paul Mazursky ... Doctor Hans Clava
Gregory Moore ... Barber Shop Quartet
Michael Brown ... Barber Shop Quartet
Jonathan Guss ... Barber Shop Quartet
David Frye ... Barber Shop Quartet
Joseph Warren ... Joe Cool & the Coolers (Rap Group)
Brian Warren ... Joe Cool & the Coolers (Rap Group)
Darrell Mason ... Joe Cool & the Coolers (Rap Group)
Marc Shaiman ... Pianist
Augustin Bustamante ... El Mariachi Bustamente

"It's a miracle we lasted this long," says sports lawyer Nick to his wife Deborah, a psychologist, on their 16th wedding anniversary in Scenes From A Mall, a Touchstone Pictures Release. With both kids away at camp, this California couple head off to the mall to pick up their gifts for each other and the sushi for their anniversary party with friends. All the submerged resentments, slights, and dislike of each other's personality quirks come to the fore when Nick casually admits that he has just ended an affair with another woman. After responding in shock and then anger, Deborah reveals that she's had a lover as well. In the anonymity of the mall's crowds, this couple manage to verbally abuse each other, reconcile briefly, fight some more, purchase new clothes, dance, and then resume the debate on the viability of their relationship.

When this film was first released, fans of Midler, Allen and Mazursky were confused and disappointed, but in Scenes From A Mall, co-writer and director Paul Mazursky presents an anatomy of a marriage shattered by betrayal, distrust, and disappointment. By verbalizing their disagreements and acting out their anger, Woody Allen as Nick and Bette Midler as Deborah realize that the investment in each other and in their partnership as parents is worth salvaging. Mazursky helps us to see that keeping love alive in a marriage that has fallen short of perfection demands as big a leap of faith as the initial step of falling in love.