Stephen Farber

“…. Fonda's Hannah Warren is a tough, testy, snobbish Newsweek editor from New York, while her ex-husband Bill is a model of laid-back California casualness. As a transplanted New Yorker himself, Simon can identify with both antagonists, and he gives each of them a strong voice. Although Hannah isn't easy to like, she comes alive as one of the most vivid characters Simon has ever created. Of course he's lucky to have Jane Fonda interpreting his lines. This amazing actress gives her third superb performance of 1978. She conveys the restless intelligence and the offputting arrogance of a New York journalist, and she also illuminates the fears that underlie Hannah's brittle, bitchy facade. This episode is uncharacteristic of Simon; it’s scintillating, poignant and thoroughly compelling.

“The episode with Maggie Smith and Michael Caine is quite different but equally good--high comedy writing honed to a savage edge….”

“However, the most egregious scene comes at the very end. Each of the four stories has a little epilogue; the worst is the reconciliation of Fonda and her teen-age daughter at the airport. Earlier in the film, the Fonda story had ended on a bittersweet, ambiguous, but very effective note. The airport reconciliation seems tacked…. Although California Suite has wonderful moments and performances, it is marred by Simon's cowardice. Can't he, just once, trust his talent and risk telling the truth?”

Stephen Farber
New West, date ?