It's a shame the filmmakers decided to make this a murder mystery, because the "mystery" is the only bad part of the film. Fonda and Bridges are both terrific, as usual, and the story of their meeting and falling in love along with the moral rebirth that love sparked in both would have made a fantastic movie. Jeff Bridges is the USA's stealth great actor: he quietly nails every role without an ounce of flash. His chemistry with Jane Fonda (hell, he has chemistry with every actress he's ever costarred with) is the best reason to watch this. Unfortunately, the heart of the plot is a lackluster murder/conspiracy story which undermines the rest. It takes "The Morning After" from a "must see" to a "see if there's nothing better."

Jane Fonda, Raul Julia, and Jeff Bridges are the main charactors in this suspense thriller. Jane is excellent as never-quite-made-it / has-been actress with a longterm drinking problem. Jane's falling star crashes right into Jeff Bridges who is always good as a laidback but tragically flawed loner. Lucky for Jane, Mr Bridges likes to "fix things other people have discarded". Raul just shines as only he can. Too bad we lost him early. Great mystery, great suspense, great acting. Another excellent video in my personal collection for rainy days. This movie has all the elements to hold up for an encore performance.

Jane Fonda gives an incredibly nuanced performance as a spiraling down drunkard, she researched the tragic 40's star Gail Russell who drank herself to death at 36 to fully understand her characters plight of a once promising actress reduced to blackouts and infamy. Jeff Bridges is almost as strong as a stranger trying to help her out of a situation she can't even remember. The rest of the cast gives good support starting with Raul Julia on down to a pre-stardom Kathy Bates in a tiny role, the problem is that the script that all this superior work is working with is ill conceived and not terribly well directed by the usually excellent Lumet.