Irreconcilable Differences (1984)

Divorce lawyer Phil Hanner has just taken on his latest client, different from any other client he's ever had: nine year old Casey Brodsky, who under California's minor emancipation law, is divorcing her famous, successful parents, film director Albert Brodsky and screenwriter/novelist Lucy Van Patten Brodsky, who themselves divorced several years ago. The chronological story told in the court testimony starts with Albert and Lucy's meeting ten years ago before they were famous or successful, he just starting his tenure as a Los Angeles area Film Studies college professor, and she focusing on her imminent marriage to a navy sailor named Bink, while being a wannabe children's book author. Their attraction, which was based more on the comfort they felt with each other despite their, at the time, precarious situation, led to a whirlwind one day courtship before marrying four days after meeting. After having Casey, their individual and joint Hollywood career trajectories skyrocketed as they began to be ensconced within Hollywood society. With fame and success came narcissism and a general abandonment of any sort of direct caregiving for Casey. And as their individual careers waxed and waned, their marriage fell apart, each using Casey as a pawn in getting back at the other, leading to the "last straw" incident that culminated in these proceedings. Some of the major questions become if either Albert or Lucy have any defense against the charges, or if the proceedings open their eyes to their lives, especially as they relate to Casey, gone horribly wrong.