Phil takes a part-time teaching job and attends a divorced-men workshop in a church basement, meeting men like Paul and Larry whose situations are similar to his.

Roger Ebert gave the film 2 stars out of 4 and wrote that it "feels sort of embarrassed at times, maybe because characters are placed in silly sitcom situations and then forced to say lines that are supposed to be revealing and real.

"[3] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 3 stars out of 4 and said it was worth seeing because "Two-thirds of it (Reynolds and Clayburgh) work very well," though he disliked Candice Bergen, saying "she is awful in this picture" and that the script "somehow feels obliged to be cute or funny.

Much more than the flip side of An Unmarried Woman, to which it will inevitably be compared, the James L. Brook (sic) production takes on the subject of marital dissolution from a comic point of view, and succeeds admirably.

"[5] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times declared, "It is, all in all, a classy entertainment which, right now and in years to come, will remind us quite accurately how things were between middle-class men and women, circa 1980.

"[7] Frank Rich said in Time, "Though this film has funny lines and a potentially explosive story, it rarely generates any emotion beyond bland good cheer.

"[8] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post wrote, "As the newly divorced hero of 'Starting Over,' a delightful romantic comedy destined for enormous well-deserved popularity, Burt Reynolds reaches a breathtaking new plateau of screen acting dexterity.