Neil Simon's 1978 film, California Suite, is four vignettes of couples descending upon Los Angeles at Oscar time: one couple (Maggie Smith and Michael Caine) for the Oscar ceremonies, two couples for vacation (Richard Pryor, Gloria Gifford, Bill Cosby, Sheila Frazer) one couple for a bar mitzvah (Walter Matthau and Elaine May),and one divorced couple (Alan Alda and Jane Fonda) to discuss their daughter.

The film is a mix of comedy, slapstick, and drama, with the Fonda-Alda segment witty but serious, the Matthau-May segment hilarious, the Cosby-Pryor segment slapstick, and the Smith-Caine segment a classic. Their conversation in the hotel suite before the Oscar ceremony is one of the best acted, best written scenes ever written. "I'm a dark horse," Smith says of her Oscar nomination, entering the room in a gown. "They must have seen the dress," Caine concludes. This is probably the most fully fleshed-out story, with the truth behind their marriage emerging as Smith descends into drunkenness later on. That and the Matthau-May vignettes are the best, with the Alda-Fonda scene coming off as somewhat dated today. The weakest is the Pryor-Crosby.

Entertaining - if you don't feel like watching the whole thing, just watch the Caine-Smith and Matthau-May.

Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor try their best as doctor friends who are having an awful time on their vacation with their wives. It's just not that funny, despite them both being extremely likable.

Alan Alda and Jane Fonda do well in their dramatic story of separated couple meeting after nine years to discuss their child. Their segment is too short to really have an impact, might have worked well as a feature film. It's not all that involving.

Michael Caine and Maggie Smith are both excellent in their little segment, with Smith portraying an actress who's up for the academy award. Caine plays her show off gay husband. The two stars really shine in an otherwise average story, not all that interesting.

Neil Simon focuses his attention on a variety of people at a hotel in this 1978 comedy hit.

Walter Matthau certainly has a penchant as a hotel guest. Remember him with Maureen Stapleton and several other ladies in another hotel farce comedy-drama?

Matthau, as always, is hilarious when he attempts to hide a hooker from his wife. It seems that Elaine May is always the naive victim in films. Remember her in 1972's "The Heartbreak Kid?"

The real acting kudos here goes to Maggie Smith for a gem of a supporting Oscar-winning performance in this film. Smith plays an actress at the hotel who has been nominated for an Oscar. A win would mean a tremendous comeback for her. Naturally, she loses. How many people have won Oscars for playing an Oscar loser in a film? Judy Garland accomplished the opposite in 1954 in "A Star is Born." In the film she is an actress who wins the academy award but in real-life competition lost it to Grace Kelly for "The Country Girl." Only the lord knows why.

Smith is just grand as she prances around the room delivering memorable one-liners. This is just a gem of a film.

When I saw "California Suite", I knew I was supposed to love the film. After all, it's based on a Neil Simon play and it won Maggie Smith an Oscar. But, try as I might, I didn't particularly enjoy the film...though parts were quite good.

The film consists of four stories of folks staying in a Hotel in Hollywood. Some of the stories seem much more developed than others. The first is about two divorcees who share a daughter (Alan Alda and Jane Fonda). The second is about an extremely nervous Oscar nominee and her bisexual husband (Maggie Smith and Michael Caine). The third is about a husband who has flown in to see his brother and attend the nephew's bar mitzvah (Walter tand Eileen May). The fourth are two couples sharing a vacation from hell (Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor).

The first story is the weakest....mostly because there really isn't much to it. Despite the famous actors, it all just seemed underwritten and bland. The second was good...but really too short and you wanted more.. The third was occasionally very funny and things got crazy when the man's brother arranged for a prostitute to arrive at his hotel....and the wife arrives soon after. This was, by far, the best story in the film for me and made me laugh. The final one had promise but, frankly, the writing was VERY broad...almost slapstick or like something written for "The Love Boat". Seeing the tennis racket explode and a few other 'funny' pratfalls were anything but funny and it all became rather tiresome.

Overall, it's a very mixed bag. While Simon is a great writer and folks enjoyed this film, I didn't. I wish, in hindsight, that the story only stuck with one or two of the stories (stories two and three). The rest...well...just didn't satisfy.