Before Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” there was the brilliant cringe-inducing comedy of Albert Brooks. And if there’s a comedy you have to watch through your fingers, it’s 1981’s “Modern Romance.” Brooks plays the most annoyingly neurotic character in movie history trying to deal with a romantic breakup. It’s extremely funny, but will make you hide your eyes.
This is the infamous scene where Brooks’s character decides he wants to take up jogging after his breakup and his encounter with a sporting goods store salesman is priceless. The salesman is played by Brooks’s brother Bob Einstein, who later went on to play Marty Funkhouser on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” I feel this way every time I walk into Jiffy Lube.