In his second to last film, John Belushi took on a very different role in 1981's CONTINENTAL DIVIDE.
Actually he seems to take on two roles in one in this something less than perfect romantic comedy.
Belushi is Chicago Sun Times reporter Ernie Souchak, a columnist with a focus on Chicago corruption (talk about a deep well of stories!) and an adoring audience of readers.
As Souchak digs deeper into one councilman and starts getting too close to the mob, he's roughed up and threatened.
His editor Howard, perfectly played by 80's character actor Allen Garfield, reassigns him to the mountains of Wyoming for a story on a famed eagle researcher.
The film suddenly moves from hard nosed reporter threatened by bad guys story to a romantic comedy between Souchak and our naturalist Nell Porter, appealingly played by Blair Brown (Altered States).
Belushi earns some nice, quiet laughs as Ernie finds himself hiking for days to the remote cabin where Nell lives, then slowly letting her know that he's there to tell her story.
They spar, they battle, they slowly find common ground, come on, you know what's going to happen.
This was Steven Spielberg's first film under his production company Amblin and its a very safe film in many ways. As Brown and Belushi go for some Hepburn/Tracy verbal battles and eventual romance, the predictability of it feels more comfortable than annoying.
This was a very different role for Belushi and he's fine. His comedy antics, while brief, are spot on and remind you in small moments of his more frantic characters, but he stays in character and does a nice job as Ernie. Brown is even better, going toe to toe with Souchak and making Nell believable.
The photography and Montana/Wyoming settings are spectacular.
The film is written by one of the best screenwriters of our time, Lawrence Kasdan (Body Heat, The Empire Strikes Back, Silverado) and that's evident when the film refuses to go where lesser movies would. A final showdown with the mob or shootout with Nell in the balance never materializes.
Instead for the final act, Kasdan puts our two characters on a long train ride where they have to make a decision on their future at every stop.
The two settings of the film never quite come together, but Belushi and Brown are never less than entertaining in a quiet, old fashioned style romantic comedy with a dash of outdoor adventure and Chicago action piled on top.
It never quite soars like Nell's eagles, but its a pleasant diversion that gets a B-.
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