Max Dugan Returns (1983)

Two Geeks and a GIT Classic Movie Reviews

More recently we lost another star of film and television, Donald Sutherland, who passed away on June 20th, 2024. To pay tribute to his work, we turn to a story from the pen of master scribe Neil Simon! Directed by Herbert Ross, 1983's "Max Dugan Returns" is a hidden gem which not only features Sutherland but also ended up being the first appearance of two actors who would go on to become stars in their own right! Public high school English teacher Nora McPhee (Marsha Mason) is overworked and underpaid, and trying to survive with an old car, a small house, and a 15-year-old son, Michael (Matthew Broderick in his first film role). After her car gets stolen, she meets detective Brian Costello (Sutherland) who ends up loaning her a motorcycle to use until she can replace her car. That night, however, she receives a strange and unsettling phone call, which turns out to be her long-lost father Max Dugan (Jason Robards). Max is out of prison and on the run from some shady real estate developers in Las Vegas, but he's come to see Nora to spend the last six months of his life with his grandson. He's also brought with him $687,000 in cash he embezzeled from the developers who stole his land. Thus begins a back-and-forth between Nora and Max, Nora and Michael, Nora and Brian, Max and Michael, and eventually Brian and Max. All the while, Max is using his money to try to make Nora's life better, which actually ends up making her life more difficult as she tries to navigate being a daughter, a mother, and a girlfriend! Also starring Dody Goodman, Sal Viscuso, Billie Bird, Kiefer Sutherland (in HIS first on-screen role), and featuring a cameo from former MLB catcher Charlie Lau (his only one)! Plus, Buddy, Chad, and Jeff announce the next two Hitchcock films that'll make up their next pairing!