White Palace (1990)

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A Younger Man
A Bolder Woman

Uptight 20-something advertising executive Max Baron (James Spader) is compulsively organized, personally disciplined, and still grieving over the death of his wife two years before.

Nora Baker (Susan Sarandon), a 40-something waitress at the White Palace burger joint in St. Louis, is disorganized, spontaneous, and mouthy.

They have a confrontation at the White Palace one evening over burgers missing from a large order he'd place to take to a friend's bachelor party. Later that night, Max runs into Nora at a bar and they talk. Max offers to take her home but he's sloshed and ends up staying the night. Of course, it becomes a one-night stand that leads to Max's infatuation with Nora.

The infatuation leads to more sex and eventually love but can they overcome the prejudices against the differences in the age, class, and personality, and the social standards his family and friends expect of him?
Others in the cast include Steven Hill, Jason Alexander and Jeremy Piven as Max's friends, Kathy Bates as Max's boss, Renee Taylor as Max's mother, Eileen Brennan as Nora's mother.

Directed by Luis Mandoki.

Run time: 1 hour, 43 minutes

Rated R

My personal rating: B