Irreconcilable Differences (1984)

Divorce lawyer Phil Hanner's latest client is different from any other client he has ever had: under California's minor-emancipation law, 9-year-old Casey Brodsky is divorcing her famous parents, novelist/screenwriter Lucy Van Patten Brodsky and film director Albert Brodsky, who have been divorced for a few years. The chronological story told in the court testimony starts with Albert and Lucy's meeting 10 years ago, before they were famous or successful; he was starting his tenure as a Los Angeles-area Film Studies college professor, and she was focusing on her upcoming marriage to a Navy sailor named Bink but dreaming of writing children's books. Their attraction, which was based on the comfort they felt with each other despite their at-the-time, precarious situation, led to a whirlwind courtship and marriage four days after meeting. After they welcomed Casey, their individual and joint Hollywood career trajectories skyrocketed as they became ensconced in 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, and each used Casey as a pawn to get back at the other--leading to the "last-straw" incident that culminated in these proceedings. Does either parents have any defense against the charges, or might the proceedings open their eyes to how wrong their lives have gone, especially in how they relate to Casey?