It's a good policy to never kick puppies or small movies, but something such as Eric Schaeffer's unfortunate "Never Again" is just asking for it.

This alleged comedy feels as if it came from the same litter as the recent "Kissing Jessica Stein" and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" in that all three films are very broad, very middle-brow and annoyingly "cute."

Schaeffer's film has one incredibly vulgar scene — its so-called "money sequence" — that easily qualifies it as the geriatric version of "Austin Powers in Goldmember."

Bad taste has no age boundaries these days.

Schaeffer, who usually makes vanity productions starring himself, steps aside this time out, handing the screen and his script to Jill Clayburgh and Jeffrey Tambor.

In theory, a middle-aged romance pairing Clayburgh and Tambor sounds promising, but in practice it's something else altogether — clownish and offensive and nothing at all like real life.

These aging boomers individually survived the sexual revolution of the 1970s and now, 30 years later, are alone and lonely. Grace (Clayburgh) is a social worker by profession and a complainer by avocation. Divorced for a decade and a recent empty-nester, she spends most of her time whining to her two best friends (Caroline Aaron and Sandy Duncan), two randy types who encourage Grace to go out and find some good sex via the Internet.

This leads Grace to a disastrous blind date with a small person who rejects her — and, ultimately, into a gay bar for some solace. Never again.

Anyway, this is where she meets Christopher (Tambor), who, given the venue, promptly mistakes Grace for a transvestite, and who has come to the conclusion that he must be gay. After all of the confusion is sorted out and Christopher realizes that Grace is a real, live woman, they hit the sack.

Poor Clayburgh. This is supposed to be her big comeback. A trendy star for about 15 minutes in the 1970s, she disappeared in her prime and has now returned in the exact kind of role that prompted Jane Fonda to opt for retirement.

"Never again" should be her new career motto.

"Never Again" is rated R for crude sexual humor and sex talk, simulated sex acts, occasional use of strong sex-related profanity and glimpses of male nudity and nude props. Running time: 95 minutes.