Cracking a Smile With ‘Divide’

John Belushi plays hard-bitten Chicago newspaperman Ernie Souchak, assigned to interview a reclusive ecologist and eagle expert in “Continental Divide,” a witty romantic comedy that teams him with Blair Brown.

When Souchak writes an expose about a corrupt city official, thugs send him to the hospital. So, to keep him out of trouble for a while, his hot-tempered editor and good friend Howard sends him to interview Nell Porter, who lives on the Continental Divide.

Souchak, who complains about being sent to the “Intercontinental Crack” to interview an “eagle freak,” takes the assignment with the same enthusiasm cats usually show for swimming. In one wonderful scene, the chain-smoking urbanite huffs and puffs his way up the side of the Rockies and suggests that his guide leave him for dead. Souchak whines when his guide points out: “These are the foothills.”

The movie has fun putting Souchak at odds with nature. When he’s not climbing mountains, he’s falling heels-over-head down them. And when he’s not being mauled by mountain men, or mountain lions, he’s cringing at the sight of bears (though it’s unclear whether he’s more concerned about being killed or having the bears steal his cigarettes).

“You one of them reporter fellas?” asks the guide when he discovers Souchak wants to meet Porter. “She likes reporter fellas least of all. She don’t like no one much.” To be sure, tough-minded Porter and Souchak start out with little in common except a mutual dislike and stubborn streaks as wide as the mountain range they inhabit.

For her part, Porter is at turns fierce and friendly, leery and lovable. Her work is as much a part of her as Souchak’s is a part of him. Still, a believable romance develops despite their differences, and the problem of whether it must end when they separate has an interesting solution that remains true to both characters.

“Continental Divide,” 1981, directed by Michael Apted. 103 minutes. Rated PG.