This Is My Life (1992 film)
This Is My Life is a 1992 American comedy-drama film that marked the directorial debut of screenwriter Nora Ephron. The screenplay, written by Ephron and her sister, Delia Ephron, is based on the book, "This Is Your Life", by Meg Wolitzer. Plot. Dottie Ingels works at a cosmetics counter but aspires to be a stand-up comedian. Ingels' Aunt Harriet dies and leaves the family her home in Queens, which Ingels then sells to move to an apartment in Manhattan. Ingels' comedy career starts to take off with the help of her agent , Arnold Moss and Moss's assistant, Claudia Curtis. Ingels' children, Erica and Opal get angry at Dottie because they hardly ever see her. Erica and Opal then run away to find their father upstate in Albany, whom Opal doesn't even remember, being only 1 or 2 years old when he left them. Cast. In addition, Estelle Harris briefly appears as Aunt Harriet, whose death in the opening minutes of the film launches the direction of the plot. Production. The film was at Columbia Pictures but was put into turnaround in 1990. Ephron allegedly asked Jon Peters if he had  read the script who answered that "I've made over 60 movies. I don't have to read a script to know whether it works or not." The character portrayed by Aykroyd, Arnold Moss, is based on the famous New York talent agent Sam Cohn, and has some of the eccentricities for which Cohn was known, such as a habit of eating paper. Soundtrack. The film's soundtrack was performed by Carly Simon and released on Qwest Records. Although the album failed to chart, the single "Love of My Life" reached #16 on the "Billboard" Adult Contemporary chart. Reception. "This  Is My Life" was met with lukewarm critical responses. on Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval of 36% rating based on reviews from 14 critics, with an average rating of 5.5/10. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 3 out of 4. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave it a C+. In 2020, David Sims of The Atlantic called it "the forgotten gem in Ephron’s filmmaking career". Home media. 20th Century Fox released the film on DVD-R in 2012 as part of its Fox Cinema Archives line.