Valerie Curtin, who wrote the film's screenplay with husband Barry Levinson (they divorced the year it was released), has an uncredited cameo as Paula's friend sitting in a playpen. Production Barry Levinson and Valerie Curtin wrote the screenplay based on their relationship. They had made And Justice for All (1979) with Norman Jewison and showed him a copy of the script. Jewison felt the draft had problems but was persuaded to make it by Goldie Hawn who read the script and was enthusiastic. "I had been impressed with her talent ever since Sugarland Express," said Jewison. "I thought she was one of the most honest performers, so I said, 'If you'll do it, I'll do it'." Hawn later said her part was "probably my most mature role" to date. They decided together on Burt Reynolds as costar. "My instinct was that we should have star chemistry, like Cary Grant and Carole Lombard, like I had on The Thomas Crown Affair, with Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway." There were six weeks of filming in New York State, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., then the unit shifted to Los Angeles. Jewison said he "took my time" with the film. "I made it very carefully, indeed...I had a wonderful time making the film and I haven't seen such good chemistry between leading players since I made The Thomas Crown Affair." Songs The film's theme song "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?", was composed by Michel Legrand with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. In the film, the song (performed by Patti Austin and James Ingram) is first heard as Richard and Paula return to Los Angeles after their honeymoon and then heard during the closing credits. How Do You Keep the Music Playing? was nominated for an Academy Award and has become a popular standard and recorded by Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Jean, Scherrie & Lynda of The Supremes and Shirley Bassey. Another song by the same songwriters and performers, "Think About Love," is played during a montage of the train journey. Reception Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote that the plot "sounds like a series of fairly predictable scenes. But they're redeemed by the writing and acting." Janet Maslin of The New York Times stated that Reynolds and Hawn made "a surprisingly appealing team, the surprise being that two