Just Between Friends, a Mary Tyler Moore Vanity Project from Hell

When I think about the 1980s and its enduring cinematic celebrations of the decade’s twin passions of aerobics and bad taste, Just Between Friends, a Mary Tyler Moore vanity project from hell, outranks even Perfect. That James Bridges film, in which Jamie Lee Curtis and John Travolta gyrate their way to cardiovascular fitness—and love—will one day earn a post of its own, but today we probe the shameless and admittedly shallow depths of Just Between Friends.

A modest, unintentionally mortifying monument to the self-obsession of celebrity, here we have a film starring Mary Tyler Moore that was written, directed and produced—under the auspices of her MTM Productions—by Allan Burns of Mary Tyler Moore Show fame. (He also penned the Kristy McNichol vehicle Just the Way You Are.) Much of that classic sitcom’s finest humor sprang from its sly, playful framing of arrogant characters. There’s arrogance to spare in Just Between Friends, but the filmmakers don’t realize it’s their own, or that it’s funny.

Moore plays Holly, whose identity is mostly wrapped up in tending to her seismologist husband Chip (Ted Danson) and their generic teenage son and daughter. Chip often works late, leaving Holly free to work up a sweat at a women’s gym, where she’s eventually offered a job as an exercise instructor. Holly’s endless workout scenes are, in a way, the film’s love theme—Moore’s emaciated, leotard-clad version of “The Way We Were.”

The gym is where Holly meets Sandy (Christine Lahti), a sardonic TV reporter and divorcee who encourages her to be more assertive. Sandy indulges in pleasures Holly denies herself: junk food, smoking, cursing. (She eventually gets Holly to say the f-word, but good luck getting her to eat.) When a convoluted series of events brings her to the realization that she’s been having an affair with Holly’s husband, we are not surprised when she’s inclined to choose Holly over Chip.

That’s one of the more interesting things about this movie: there isn’t a whiff of lesbianism in it but Holly and Chip are basically dating the same woman. Moore and Lahti have more chemistry together than either has with Danson (playing one of his many schmucks), and their bond is the film’s central relationship. This is mostly due to Lahti, who gives a thankless role her goofy all and wisely refrains from hamming it up when Chip’s untimely death creates some lackluster melodrama.

Chip leaves behind a BFF of his own, dependable coworker Harry (an adorable Sam Waterston). Conveniently, Harry is as inexplicably smitten with Holly as everyone else in Just Between Friends. The only character who isn’t quite as convinced of her greatness is Chip, though obligatory pains are taken to establish that he still finds her sexually attractive.

“She’s the best woman I know!” Harry exclaims during a confrontation with Chip. In another scene Sandy tells him “I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this. Not now that I know her.” Every misguided aspect of the production is a tribute to the greatness of our noble, spandex-clad heroine, right down to the hilarious conversation the reunited friends share over the end credits.

Sandy mentions a job offer and Holly, with all the saccharine magnanimity Moore can muster, tells her dead husband’s mistress (who recently gave birth to his child, no less), “Oh, that’s great! That’s great. You shouldn’t give it up, you’re so good at what you do. And you don’t have to worry about career versus child, you can do it.” Naturally, Sandy tells her how good she looks.

Streaming and DVD availability

Just Between Friends is currently streaming on Hulu. You can also rent or buy a digital copy at Amazon or purchase it on DVD.

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… But wait, there’s more!

Keep an eye out for Holly’s mom, who is played by Jane Greer, one of the all-time great femme fatales in Out of the Past. While it was wonderful to see Greer, her casting was another reminder that Moore was playing far too young. Mother and daughter looked like contemporaries; the actresses were separated in age by only 12 years.