What's nice is that they approach each other out of vulnerability. There isn't that feeling you sometimes get with the big stars, that of course people are going to be attracted to them. They both seem a little flattered to be so much in love. It creates a good feeling.
But the movie isn't all sweetness. It contains one of the single most explosive and surprising comic moments of any movie in a long time, when a hostile cop delivers a brutal insult to Meg Tilly and she responds appropriately.
More than that I won't say, but the moment gets a laugh that grows out of shock, surprise and the perfect timing of what happens.
"Off Beat" is filled with good character actors, bringing more dimensions to their characters than the roles might otherwise permit.
Among them are Harvey Keitel as a bank robber, Julie Bovasso as Tilly's mother and Joe Mantegna as a cop who hates ballet instructors.
At the center of everything, Reinhold and Tilly make a wonderful romantic couple. There is a real magic about the scene where they have a quiet dinner and then begin to dance. Reinhold became a star of sorts in "Beverly Hills Cop," just by having a good role in a hit movie. But this time he carries the show and gives promise of being around for a long time, probably in more of these everyman roles that Jack Lemmon plays so well. Meg Tilly has been in wildly uneven movies over the years (I was not one of the admirers of "Agnes of God," her most prestigious film to date). This time, allowed to play a fairly tough and complicated character, she suddenly blossoms. She has never been more appealing.
"Off Beat" probably sounds contrived. The plot is filled with predictable devices, contrived meetings, wild coincidences and elements that seem borrowed from other films.
What's surprising is how original it all seems, maybe because the director, Michael Dinner, seems to really care for his characters. In a year that already has given us some great comedies ("Down and Out in Beverly Hills" and "Hannah and Her Sisters"), here is another one.
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