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As the father, a oneâ€" time successful Holâ€" lywood writer who hasn‘t seen his daughâ€" ter in 16 years, Walter Matthau is superb. It‘s a role that carries with it a kind of inverse deja vu, the character being The story takes the young girl from New York to Los Angeles (a trip Simon characters, like the writer himself, have made before) where, under the preâ€" tence of seeking a caâ€" reer in the movies, she attempts a reconciliaâ€" tion with her father. Foremost among these is Dinah Manoff, recreating on the screen the role that won her a 1980 Tony Award on Broadway. The daughter of acâ€" tress Lee Grant, Manâ€" off is a dynamo little actress who makes Simon‘s character of a 19â€"yearâ€"old Brooklyn waif extremely appealâ€" ing. In fact, more than the Simon script itself, it is the performers who make 1 Ought To Be In Pictures memoâ€" rable. MOVIE REVIEWS That‘s not necessariâ€" ly detrimental to one‘s enjoyment of the film, of course, particularly given the exemplary performances of the principal players. Neil Simon, once again adapting one of his own stage plays for the screen, indeed reâ€" peats himself quite a bit in this new movie. Much of 1 Ought To Be In Pictures already has been. By Victor Stanton I Ought To Be In Pictures provides emotional workout Even though the emotional territory. like the geographic, has been rather overâ€" explored both by Simon himself and his many imitators, 1 Ought To Be In Pictures never becomes totally preâ€" dictable, and the charâ€" Director Herbert Ross, now a familiar name linked with Simon‘s works, tends to let things carry on at a very relaxed momenâ€" tum that is right enough in the context of the drama itself but seems somewhat slugâ€" gish compared to what one expects in a Simon movie. After an opening scene â€" in which the girl consults with her dead grandmother â€" that‘s a little too cuâ€" tesy, followed by a rather slowâ€"moving odâ€" yssey from New York to L.A., the film starts hitting its dramatic stride with the first meeting of daughter and father. 1 Ought To Be In Pictures, following the pattern set in Only When 1 Laugh, is more drama than comedy, and the famous Simon oneâ€"liners are less dominant than in most of his previous movies. not too dissimilar to that of the mother (played by Marsha Mason) in the last Simon picture, Only When I Laugh. The movie‘s other major character, the father‘s girlfriend, is given a most effective lowâ€"key interpretation by Annâ€"Margaret. Like Chariots Of Fire, Personal Best foâ€" cuses on Olympicâ€"level competitors in track and field events. In the recently acclaimed *‘best picture‘‘ of 1981, running was the domiâ€" nant sport. In Personal Best, running is the key event in pentathlon competition . Like Making Love, Personal Best also reâ€" volves around a homoâ€" sexual relationship. In the former picture, the lovers were men; in Personal Best they are females. It may be a bit perâ€" verse to suggest that the movie Personal Best is merely a comâ€" bination of ingredients from two such disâ€" parate films as Chariots Of Fire and Making Love. But the comparisons do readily come to mine. One can‘t help feelâ€" ing, though, that this time round Simon has been lucky in having players capable of bringing energy and freshness to his reworked themes. And while the story, particularly towards the end, tugs at the heartstrings quite inâ€" sistently the movie itâ€" self doesn‘t become as soddenly sentimental an experience as one might expect. Prepare yourself for a solid emotional workout, however. acters, though again familiar, don‘t fall into mere stereotypes. In so far as it is The other principa‘ roles, that of an aspirâ€" ing young athlete and the male coach of the U.S. women‘s pentathâ€" lon team, as played by Donnelly is most compelling as the oider of the two women comâ€" petitors who become romantically involved, while Moore is totally convincing as a former Olympic swimming star who, more or less, comes between them. He does draw some incredible perforâ€" mances from the film‘s athleteâ€"dominated cast, notably former track star Patrice Donâ€" nelly and Sports Illusâ€" trated staff writer Kenny Moore who have never acted before. Firstâ€"time screen director Robert Towne (an Oscarâ€"winning screen writer) at times seems to be concenâ€" trating unduly on the female anatomy in some of the sporting sequences, scenes which really have no need to be shocking to be dramatically powerâ€" ful. There is considerable dramatic unevenness in the intermingling of the two themes, and sometimes one is left with the odd feeling that the picture is guilty of greater exâ€" ploitation in the sports segments than in the sexual ones. com parable to Chariots, Personal Best does not succeed nearly so. well. In comâ€" parison to Making Love, it is much more successful. © Burgers â€" Hot Dogs, etc. © Steak on a Bun â€"Back Bacon on Bun 0 15 Different Sandwiches BREAKFAST 478â€"A ALBERT ST. W * PARKDALE PLAZA â€" _ TAKE OUT WATERLOO Ba85sâ€"os80 _ THE WMRF FAMILY * 12 KINDS OF FISH ScePFhie) w DEEP FRIED IN PURE VEGETABLE OIL HALIBUT COD RAINBOW TROUT SOLE LAKE SMELT OYSTERS LAKE PEARCHK â€" SHRIMP SCALLOPS CLAMS _ WHITE FISH x 2 KINDS OF FISH SANDWICHS x 6 KINDS OF POTATOS * 2 DELICIOUS CLAM CHOWDERS t# PLUS SECOND COFFEE FREE F CRINKLE FRENCH FRIES DOLLAR CHIPS HASH BROWN PATTIES TATERGEMS POM POMS COUNTRY WEDGES ANY TIME OF DAY Verdi‘s Requiem at Centre The Kitchenerâ€"Waâ€" terloo Philharmonic Choir‘s 60th Anniversaâ€" ry Jubilee Season comes to a resounding finale with its perforâ€" mance of Verdi‘s masâ€" terful Requiem at The Centre in the Square on Good Friday, April 9 at 8 p.m Language, nudity and sexual explicitness make Personal Best far removed in mass audience appeal from Chariots Of Fire. The love scenes beâ€" tween Donnelly and Hemingway are played with much more natuâ€" ralness and sensitivity than those between the two males in Making Love, although the competitive aspects of the story in Personal Best really would be just as involving, one suspects, even without this particular ‘"relaâ€" tionship" angle. The photography, particularly in the sporting sequences, is often stunning, but there is a tendency to overuse the slowâ€"moâ€" tion technique. Mariel Hemingway and Scott Glenn reâ€" spectively, also conâ€" tribute strongly to the picture‘s frequently highâ€"power dramatic impact. RESTAURANT . FOR A HARVEST OF THE SEA WE‘RE DIFFERENT & AFFORDABLE ~WHARF WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESOAY, APRIL 7, 1982 â€" PAGE 13 RAINBOW Calli , Eavestroughing Han "It‘s my business . . not a sideline" * We work the year ‘round. *Seamniess Aluminum HWY. 8, 2 MILES NMORTH OF 401 Open Mon Fully Licensed Under LL.A. 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