didi-5 Enjoyable as 'The Blues Brothers' was, it didn't really get a chance to show the versatility of John Belushi's acting talent, or his quieter side. 'Continental Divide' does both - it's a love story which isn't outrageous or slapstick, but genuinely sweet and funny.Belushi plays a reporter, Ernie, who takes a vacation from sniffing out corruption in Chicago's high places to get a story on a reclusive female scientist (Blair Brown), who is doing just nicely, holed up in the Rocky Mountains. Ernie isn't really the mountain type but as both characters evolve, he becomes more suited to the hard life.Some corny moments exist in this movie, but it isn't bad at all. It feels a bit like a TV movie rather than a big budget cinema piece (although the locations are beautiful), but it does show there was more to Belushi than you might guess from watching 'National Lampoon's Animal Vacation' or '1941'.

Lee Eisenberg John Belushi - who would have turned 58 today - is remembered as Bluto Blutarsky ("Animal House"), Wild Bill Kelso ("1941"), Jake Blues ("The Blues Brothers"), and various "SNL" characters; all totally wacky. In "Continental Divide", he got what was probably his one serious role. Although most people pooh-poohed it, I didn't find it that bad. As a Chicago reporter developing a relationship with an eagle researcher (Blair Brown) in the Rocky Mountains, Belushi got the chance to say that he had one serious role before his untimely death. If that is the movie's only real strength, then so be it. It may be worth seeing just for that.And if I may add one thing: people need to give "1941" another chance.

finaldraft151 Continental Divide is by far John Belushi's greatest performance. Most people are quick to disagree, usually for one reason, and that is because they didn't find it believable. His audience was so accustomed to his characters, 'Bluto' from Animal House and 'Jake' from The Blues Brothers on the big screen and his usually wild and loud skits on SNL that they couldn't accept him as playing the lead in a romantic comedy. They couldn't and wouldn't accept this new role for him. For Belushi, it was his chance to break out of his stereotype and tackle a role that he felt would prove that he was more than just a skit on SNL. In my opinion, he did just that. Although this is not one of the greatest movies ever made, it certainly isn't as bad as some have claimed it to be. There are some dull moments, but for the most part Belushi comes off as a very likable and convincible guy. Belushi fans waited impatiently for him to get off a good one-liner or to blow mashed potatoes all over the place, but when that never happens they write it off as a bad movie and an even worse performance by John. I like to point this out: Let's pretend that this is Belushi's first movie, forget Bluto, Jake Blues or any character he ever did on SNL. With all of that in mind, watch the movie. John will surprise you by how well he plays his character. If this was in fact, the first movie Belushi ever did, it would of gotten way better reviews and press, and would have been more accepted by his audience, since they wouldn't have been expecting him to pull a Bluto stunt or break out into somersaults a la Jake Blues. The only thing that disturbs me in this movie is that his character makes several remarks about dying very soon. In 1981, it probably wasn't even given a second thought, but, unfortunately as we all know now, Belushi died very soon after this movie was released. Had John not died so soon and so young I think he would still be making movies today, unlike so many of his other SNL co-stars who seemed to have faded away into the woodwork. To make a long story short… Forget about Bluto, Jake and SNL and just watch the movie, you should really enjoy it.

bluzman I really enjoyed this movie. No, it is not the deep heady stuff, nor it is a slapstick comedy. It is a movie about two people living in different worlds that cross paths, fall in love, and so on. For Belushi, this role is as much of a course change as it is for his character when he goes into the mountains. This is as far from SNL, Animal House and The Blues Brothers and Being There is from the Pink Panther Movies and Dr. Strangelove for Peter Sellers. Blair Brown's character (Nell Porter) is totally hot in that special, wholesome, outdoors way. You can how a guy could fall for her.All in all, this is a fine movie to rent for a night of popcorn, or maybe trail mix munching, with the family. Don't wrap yourself up too tight in trying to analyze every little nuance of the movie, like so many of the wannabe critics that inhabit these reviews. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.