Two of a Kind is a 1983 American romantic fantasy crime comedy-drama film directed by John Herzfeld and starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. The film reunited Travolta and Newton-John who had appeared together in 1978's Grease. Principal photography of Two of a Kind took place from May 9 to July 21, 1983, beginning in New York City with two weeks of location shooting and then continuing in California at 20th Century Fox Studios in Century City, MGM Studios in Culver City and The Burbank Studios in Burbank.

Reception

Roger Ebert gave the film one-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, "The romance, alas, never really gets airborne, if only because John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John and the plot are followed everywhere by countless unnecessary supporting characters." Janet Maslin of The New York Times asked, "Can it really have been that difficult to find a passable screen vehicle for John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John? Any old romantic fluff should have sufficed, and yet something as horrible as Two of a Kind has been tailor-made for its stars. The results are so disastrous that absolutely no one is shown off to good advantage, with the possible exception of the hairdressers involved." Todd McCarthy of Variety slammed the film as "an embarrassment of the first order ... Aside from the presence of the two stars, confection has all the earmarks of a bargain-basement job."

Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote that director John Herzfeld "has placed one of America's favorite fantasy couples in a gimmick-filled story that requires the almost-constant presence of seven of the dullest supporting characters you'll ever meet. That's too bad, because whenever Newton-John and Travolta are on screen together, Two of a Kind flashes with a spark of entertainment, and you want to tell them to get up and go to another film where they can have a long talk or makeout scene together."

Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times said that with "flaccid direction, ugly photography and performances that rely on charm generated a few movies ago (and sealed in plastic), you have reason enough to give Two of a Kind a wide berth." Rita Kempley of The Washington Post wrote, "The acting's not all that bad, but the script is." FilmInk magazine later wrote the two stars "really shouldn’t have been so snobby about Grease 2 if this is what they did instead."

Two of a Kind was nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Travolta, also for Staying Alive), Worst Actress (Newton-John), Worst Director (Herzfeld) and Worst Screenplay (Herzfeld) at the 4th Golden Raspberry Awards. The movie was nominated for a Stinkers Bad Movie Award for Worst Picture at the 1983 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards.

As of November 2022, the film holds a 17% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.

Soundtrack

The film was salvaged by a platinum soundtrack which yielded three singles for Newton-John:

  • "Twist of Fate" - No. 5 Billboard Hot 100 (her last of 15 Top 10 Pop hits)
  • "Take a Chance" (duet with Travolta) - No. 3 Adult Contemporary (B-side to "Twist of Fate")
  • "Livin' in Desperate Times" - No. 31 Billboard Hot 100

The album was further bolstered by featuring "Ask the Lonely", a song which the rock group Journey had initially intended for their 1983 album Frontiers but which was only available on the soundtrack album (No. 3 Mainstream Rock); it was also added to the playlist of a few pop stations but did not chart there. Additionally included was Patti Austin's "It's Gonna Be Special", which was not a major pop hit, but peaked at #15 on the R&B chart and #5 on the Dance chart in 1984.

References

  • The Two of A Kind Only Olivia movie website