'That Old Feeling': Wedded Miss

The Goddess of Kitsch once again goes to bat for wronged first wives in "That Old Feeling," a screwball romance that falters despite Bette Midler's dazzle and the deft support of co-star Dennis Farina.

Midler, in diva overdrive as movie queen Lilly Leonard, has been divorced from first husband Dan (Farina) for 12 years when they meet again at the high-society wedding of their mousy daughter, Molly (Paula Marshall). Though both have vowed to behave and are accompanied by their new spouses, they are soon involved in a shouting match that humiliates Molly and appalls the bridegroom's patrician parents.

Ordered outside to cool off, Lilly and Dan have gone for each other's throats again when they discover that they still share an inexplicable passion. And before you can say "something old, something new," the two vanish, leaving Molly to deal with her stepparents and her new husband (Jamie Denton), a tedious pol who fears a scandal will jeopardize his career.

At this point Molly hooks up with a low-rent paparazzo (Danny Nucci) who has radar where Lilly is concerned. As the two attempt to track her folks down, a growing attraction develops, and the story turns in directions that are as patently obvious as wedding poses. Never mind that Molly is a stuck-up Yale graduate student and the paparazzo went to duh school of hard knocks and has the savoir-faire of a New York cabby.

Screenwriter Leslie Dixon of "Mrs. Doubtfire" and the Midler movie "Outrageous Fortune" does the story another disservice when she puts Molly's husband in her evil stepmother's bed. But that's the least of this warmed-over and desperate comedy's problems, which include poor dear old Carl Reiner's uninspired direction.

The most embarrassing moment for all concerned has been lifted right out of the "Play it again" scene in "Casablanca." A pianist who resembles the earlier movie's Sam recognizes Dan and Lilly from years earlier and starts playing their song, "Somewhere Along the Way." And Midler actually sings it, albeit a bit sheepishly. Farina does his best to look besotted.

Modeled on vintage yarns like 1937's "The Awful Truth" with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, the film doesn't really impart "That Old Feeling." It's more like the feeling you get after eating a big turkey dinner: stuffed and sleepy.

That Old Feeling is rated PG-13 for profanity.