EXTRA! EXTRA! WHAT A DUD!

(The Main Event DVD Review)

After A Star is Born, Barbra Streisand could have done any movie that struck her fancy. Star had been a huge smash at the box office, and had spawned a number one single (Evergreen), and a number one soundtrack. Among the projects talked about was a remake of Annie Get Your Gun, and a co-starring role with Clint Eastwood in The Gauntlet. Instead, Barbra decided to do The Main Event/A Glove Story.

Little was known about The Main Event when it went into production. The sets were kept very secret and so was the story. Basically, all we knew was that it was a romantic comedy, it co-starred Ryan O’Neal, and had to do with boxing. So, when finally released in 1979, critics and fans were expecting either a huge bomb or a huge smash. Surprisingly, it was neither. Though Barbra was only 36 at the time and at the height of her career, The Main Event was immediately categorized as a vanity production. In addition, both fans and critics found the film to be a lightweight comedy.

Hillary "The Nose" Kramer (Barbra) is a wealthy woman with her own perfume business. Her business manager steals her money and escapes to South America. To avoid prison, Hillary sells her perfume business. Her only remaining asset is a boxer called Eddie "Kid Natural" Scanlon (Ryan O'Neal). Broke, Hillary demands that Kid Natural, who was really a tax shelter for her, put his boxing gloves back on and fight so that she can get back on her feet. Of course, they fall in love.

Remember Funny Girl? In that movie, there was a song about Barbra’s character called If a Girl Isn’t Pretty. And indeed, it was appropriate for the Diva with the unconventional face and body. However, as Barbra became more successful, she simply stopped playing the role of the "girl who wasn’t pretty" and instead started trying to play the role of an attractive woman--a very attractive woman. I don’t know how to put this nicely, but Barbra is not beautiful nor a sex symbol. Consequently, I cannot believe the number of instances in The Main Event where Barbra is referred to as "lovely", or where men flirt with her. If that is hard to swallow, even more disturbing are the endless close-ups of her butt and her nails. What’s worse, this is the first movie where her face shows signs of aging. The wrinkles around her mouth are noticeable even with the heavy lighting and softening techniques, her eyelids are beginning to thin, and there is a very noticeable wrinkle between her eyebrows. There is nothing wrong with getting old, unless you try to pretend it is not happening. The following pictures capture her butt, nails and signs of aging.

While the colors on the DVD look ok, the sound is very disappointing. It's Dolby Digital 1.0 (i.e., one channel or "mono" as we used to call it). At least a two channel mix should have been provided. And that commentary... Barbra provides a scene-specific commentary--a very brief one. Although better than the horrible one she did for What's Up, Doc?, it is really worthless. The only new piece of information is the fact that they had trouble developing an ending for the film (duh!).

The Main Event on a scale of 1 to 10: 4.