New York psychiatrist Joe Glazer, who is going through a divorce, rents an apartment under the assumed name of Glassman and installs a hidden movie camera in a mirrored box to record his life and occasionally talk to. Most of the people who visit his apartment are women, including Joann, a former patient; Monica, an ex-mistress; and Karen, the wife of one of his best friends. Joe has sexual encounters with some of them. The camera records Joe's words and actions as well as his ongoing mental breakdown.
of The New York Times wrote, "As an attempt to elevate pornography... into art, it is often witty and funny but it fails for several reasons, including Ginsberg's self-imposed limitations on form." He elaborated that "the screenplay, like the film, eventually drifts in a horizontal direction into a kind of foggy confusion." Variety stated, "The problem with 'Coming Apart' is that while it suggests some interesting ideas, it can't deliver any of them in cogent form. If Torn is supposed to be some form of saint in the 20th Century religion of psychiatry, prepared to accept the truth of his perceptions with detached irony, this only adds to the deadness of the film as public entertainment." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4 and praised Rip Torn for "a brilliantly controlled performance. He never appears to be acting." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "In this dreary study of the disintegration of a New York psychologist, Ginsberg made the mistake of placing professional actors in improvised Warhol-like situations... What we're left with, consequently, is scarcely more than some mild but mainly tedious pornography for intellectuals." Gary Arnold of The Washington Post wrote, "Compared to the erotic satire, the film's serious pretensions seem so uninspired and derivative that it's only natural to find that your interest dwindles once the characters start sorting out their souls... the breakdowns turn morbidly sentimental and theatrically pat." Life reviewer Richard Schickel praised Torn's performance, Ginsberg's inventive use of camera and sound, and the "illuminating" portrayal of a schizophrenic breakdown. Andrew Sarris of The Village Voice gave it a less favorable review, however, and the film was a commercial failure. The film has since attained a cult following among critics and filmmakers.
