Max Dugan Returns

Max Dugan, the long-lost father of Nora McPhee, appears at her door one night. She does not recognize him, as he went to prison when she was only 9 years old, and disappeared after serving a six year term. He tells her that he is dying within the year, and wants to give Nora and her 15-year-old son, Michael, the $687,000 ($1.8 million today) he managed to embezzle from a Las Vegas casino after they appropriated his property, worth that same amount.

Nora, a high school English teacher and widow, lives with Michael in a broken down house in Venice, Los Angeles. Nora meets police detective Brian Costello when her car is stolen and they soon start dating. Nora and her (possible) father keep his identity a secret from Michael and Brian, with Dugan telling Michael that he knew "Max" in prison – then tells Nora the same, further obfuscating what she can believe.

Nora keeps refusing his money, only wanting his presence in her life. Max keeps buying extravagant cars, appliances, and renovations for Nora and Michael, making it harder for Nora to hide the truth from an increasingly suspicious Brian. This is compounded by busybody neighbor Mrs. Litke, who keeps reporting things to the police.

After two weeks together, Nora is now sure that it truly is her father. She pleads with Max to turn himself in, confident that the police will take the money and release him to her care for his final few months. Instead, he leaves a message that he is fleeing to Brazil with a portion of the money, leaving the rest for them.

Brian stops Nora as she heads to Michael's baseball game. He has figured out who Max is, and that he is dying, and warns her that she could face prison time unless she turns Max in. Nora refuses to do anything until after the game. After Michael hits the game winning home run – his first hit of the season, thanks to training from MLB coach Charley Lau, paid for by Max – Nora tells Brian everything. She also convinces him that Max is unimportant, and that the off-duty Brian can call in the information after lunch. Max is seen driving away, apparently headed for Brazil.

In addition, Kiefer Sutherland – in his first ever credited role (like Broderick) – appears briefly as Bill, Mike's school friend.

Max Dugan Returns marks the first of only three times (as of 2018) that Donald Sutherland and his son Kiefer have appeared together in a dramatic film project, the others being A Time to Kill and Forsaken, in the latter of which they both starred in the leads.

Matthew Broderick was cast in this film and Simon's play Brighton Beach Memoirs simultaneously.

The real-life father of Matthew Broderick, noted character actor James Broderick (whose birthname is James Joseph Broderick III), died on November 1, 1982  – around the time of the making of this film. Co-star Jason Robards, who knew James and was a friend, helped Matthew through his grief over the loss of his father.

Former professional baseball player Charley Lau appears as himself having been hired by Robards' character Dugan to coach Broderick's Michael to hit better for his high school team. At the time of the movie, Lau was the hitting coach for the Chicago White Sox.

This was the last motion picture that Mason and Simon collaborated on before their divorce.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4, calling it "watchable and sort of sweet."[1]

Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune also awarded 2.5 stars out of 4 and wrote:

This sort of story is the kind of whimsical comedy that would have been made and made memorably in the '30s or '40s. But in this version only Robards has that old style panache to carry it off. He plays Max Dugan seriously, not as a clown, and it works beautifully. Other actors might have had fun with the part; Robards may have realized that there would be enough jokes happening around him that he didn't need to be silly. Mason, to her credit, manages to keep her whiny, please-love-me stereotypical movie persona in check; she's almost believable here. as a teacher. Young Matthew Broderick is just fine as the son. Donald Sutherland also appears in the film as Mason's love interest, and more than his performance we notice simply that writer Simon has cared enough about the script to include Sutherland's character as a tension source. "Max Dugan Returns" is by no means without the trademark Simon touches that can cause one to wince. Wisecrack piles on top of wisecrack in some scenes to the point that you can't see any of the characters. And the film's ending is so predictable that you will be putting on your coat at least two or three minutes before the end credits start to roll.[2]

Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote, "Mr. Simon's original screenplay is fast and buoyant, and Herbert Ross's direction shows off the abundant jokes to their best possible advantage. There are certainly some questionable ingredients to the story, but you're not likely to notice them while the film is under way. You're likely to be laughing."[3]

Variety described the film as "a consistently happy comedic fable which should please romanticists drawn again to another teaming of Neil Simon, Marsha Mason and Herbert Ross."[4]

David Ansen of Newsweek wrote, "It's a cute fantasy, and the players are certainly appealing. But Simon overplays his hand. Having created living and breathing comic characters, he starts to suffocate them inside an increasingly mechanized plot. The cuteness gets a bit out of hand."[5]

• List of American films of 1983

• Max Dugan Returns at IMDb
• Max Dugan Returns at AllMovie
• Max Dugan Returns at Box Office Mojo
• Max Dugan Returns at Rotten Tomatoes