1.   Because the play as well as the screenplay by Nichols and Thompson involves lengthy monologues, the movie at times resembles a filmed play.

2.   Adapted by Martin Sherman from his acclaimed play, the film starts off with rich, decadent atmosphere but gradually, inexorably minimalizes itself down into a filmed play.

3.   Filmed plays and television versions have fared less well.

4.   It very much seemed stagebound, a filmed play.

5.   The suave camera movements never quite dispel the feeling that we are watching a filmed play.

6.   These days, your best seat for a filmed play remains in your own living room.

7.   TV watchers quickly tired of TV that was radio with visuals, just as early movie audiences soon rejected movies that looked like filmed plays.

8.   Swinging in rhythm to a rapid-fire metronome, Hanks was filmed miming play.