X
  • 1985
  • R
  • Bud Yorkin Productions
  • 1 h 51 m
  • 1985
  • R
  • Bud Yorkin Productions
  • 1 h 51 m
Twice in a Lifetime

Summary A middle-aged steelworker is content with his job and his family, but feels that something is missing in his life. On his 50th birthday, he stops in at a local bar for a drink to celebrate. He finds himself attracted to the very sexy barmaid and, to his surprise, he finds that she is also very attracted to him.

Directed By: Bud Yorkin

Written By: Colin Welland

  • 1985
  • R
  • Bud Yorkin Productions
  • 1 h 51 m
  • 1985
  • R
  • Bud Yorkin Productions
  • 1 h 51 m

Twice in a Lifetime

Metascore Mixed or Average Based on 14 Critic Reviews
58
User Score Available after 4 ratings
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Summary A middle-aged steelworker is content with his job and his family, but feels that something is missing in his life. On his 50th birthday, he stops in at a local bar for a drink to celebrate. He finds himself attracted to the very sexy barmaid and, to his surprise, he finds that she is also very attracted to him.

Directed By: Bud Yorkin

Written By: Colin Welland

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 14 Critic Reviews
58
50% Positive
7 Reviews
29% Mixed
4 Reviews
21% Negative
3 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 14 Critic Reviews
58
50% Positive
7 Reviews
29% Mixed
4 Reviews
21% Negative
3 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
91
An unusually perceptive look at subjects seldom explored in American film—the emotional lives of working-class extended families and middle-aged sexuality—Twice In A Lifetime is especially poignant when documenting the collateral damage the central affair causes to Hackman's wife (a touching Ellen Burstyn) and bitter adult daughter (Amy Madigan).
By Nathan Rabin FULL REVIEW
88
The movie does not have a conventional happy ending. Life will go on, and people will strive, and new routines will replace old ones. The movie has no villains and few heroes. But it has given us several remarkable scenes, especially two confrontations between Madigan and Hackman, one in a bar, the other at a wedding rehearsal, in which the movie shows how much children expect from their parents, and how little the parents often have to give.
By Roger Ebert FULL REVIEW
75
It's a film that deals with natural emotions and commonplace decisions creating uncommon situations. Bud Yorkin's direction is also top-notch.
FULL REVIEW
60
The performances are appealing, but Bud Yorkin of "All in the Family" directs as if everyone were going to get bored and run out for popcorn at the next commercial break. [24 Jan 1986, p.23]
By Rita Kempley FULL REVIEW
60
An enjoyable, second-rate family drama rich in the kind of folk wisdom that can ordinarily be found on daytime television.
By Janet Maslin FULL REVIEW
30
Amateurish, emotionally fraudulent. [28 Jan 1986, p.C4]
By Paul Attanasio FULL REVIEW
30
These characters need rescuing from screenwriter Colin Welland’s view of life in middle-class America as oppressively banal. By the time he gets finished sketching in the deadening of the American family, you may feel like beating Hackman to the front door...Twice in a Lifetime is a dreary masquerade of a serious movie.
By Sheila Benson FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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Details

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Production Company Bud Yorkin Productions
Release Date Nov 8, 1985
Duration 1 h 51 m
Rating R
Genres
Tagline ''for better or for worse...'' but not always forever.
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Awards

Golden Globes, USA
• 2 Nominations
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination

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