Nothing in Common

David Basner is a Chicago advertising executive whose career is going well and whose personal life is uncomplicated. That changes when his parents, married for decades, separate. David finds himself drawn into their conflict and into caring for his father, Max, while also trying to close a major account at work. The split forces him to reconsider a relationship he had kept at a distance for years.

Nothing in Common was released in 1986, directed by Garry Marshall as the third of the eighteen films he directed, following Herndon and preceding Overboard. The screenplay is by Rick Podell and Michael Preminger, and Alexandra Rose produced it for TriStar Pictures. Tom Hanks plays David, with Jackie Gleason as Max, Eva Marie Saint as Lorraine, Héctor Elizondo, Barry Corbin and Bess Armstrong among the credited cast of seventy-two. Made for about 12 million dollars, it took in roughly 32 million worldwide.

On IMDb the film holds 5.9 out of 10 from more than seven thousand votes, and on TMDB it also sits at 5.9, from a much smaller number of votes. A critics' rating of 5.9 from twenty-four reviews places it in line with those audience scores, suggesting a mixed but broadly consistent reception across viewers and reviewers alike.