Why are all these Jacqueline Susann soap operas--targeted, ostensibly, at frustrated women--directed by men? Guy Green helms this thing like a farmer driving along in his rusty tractor, and screenwriter Julius J. Epstein dispatches his characters with the careless pen of a hack talent only interested in collecting a paycheck. Deborah Raffin, a painfully-thin, vanilla-flavored virgin with flaxen hair, seems to be saving herself for her chummy papa (Kirk Douglas, looking a little embarrassed); when Dad marries tough cookie (and part-time lesbian) Alexis Smith, Raffin finds a hollowed-out older man to care for (David Janssen, also looking embarrassed). Horny magazine editor Brenda Vaccaro (who in real-life was dating Kirk's son, Michael) gets the best lines and received an Oscar nomination, but this sappy movie just doesn't move...it dawdles along looking an awful lot like a tacky magazine spread for old lady jewelry. When Epstein gets tired of a character (or two, as with Douglas and Smith), he throws in a plot-twist, unconcerned with the ridiculousness of the results. His facetious ending, accented by a cooing chorus, makes the whole thing seem like a pointless potboiler. ** from ****
Review of Once Is Not Enough
