That Old Feeling

Hot on the stiletto heels of The First Wives Club, Bette Midler hisses, claws, and, yes, purrs a song in another pointless battle of the sexes. This time she's a flamboyant movie star whose loathing for her ex-husband (Dennis Farina) turns to lusting when the two collide at the wedding of their straitlaced daughter (Paula Marshall). Giddy with renewed passion, the pair steal away, cuckolding their current mates -- snippy Gail O'Grady and darkly funny David Rasche as a "dialoguing" self-help guru.

Director Carl Reiner strains for the rollicking energy of a '40s romp, but the criss-cross love affairs fizzle humorlessly. Midler and Farina alternately caw and paw at each other; it's as excruciating as watching any couple make a public spectacle. Like First Wives, That Old Feeling whittles its women to pathetic caricatures; they cattily size up each other's nips and tucks, then inhale doughnuts when their love lives sour. It's that old feeling, all right -- that old feeling of disappointment. At the Harbour Mall, Opera House, Showcase and Woonsocket cinemas.

-- Alicia Potter