Stream it now Two for the Road 1967

 

Talk about a modern times topic! But also sentimental and cute.

Very enjoyable. The blurb on the back would make you think this is just a vehicle to show off the beautiful people and their fashion labels, but in fact the best part of the film is probably the script. At once smart and funny, its repetitive nature doesn't grind, and the back and forth nature of the story means that, while we are learning about the characters all the time, the last half an hour doesn't suffer from emotional overload as is normally the case in rom coms.

Take two great actors, put them in a super classic car and have them tour the most exciting part of the world to be in during the 1960's, then destroy any entertainment value by focusing on their lousy marriage. Crikey!

Great film to watch if you like getting depressed watching these losers.

Two for the Road
Directed by: Stanley Doonan



: sigh : this is one of those oh-so-ernest movies made by a first time filmmaker that isn't awful, but isn't nearly as good as it hopes to be, and comes off as annoying occasionally because of it's ernestness.

Anyhow, it's a boy-loves-girl-but-she-thinks-of-him-as-best-friend story, but told from a female perspective this time. Instead, the protagonist, who's a virgin, ends up sleeping with some random sleazy artist who's 20 something years older. Of course, the guy takes her back after sleeping with one of her friends anyway.

It's got some funny moments, and I thought the girls were unconventionally pretty, but ultimately it tries too hard and produces too little.

5.0

The two here are, Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney, at their prime. The road is the bumpy road of relationships and marriage. As this couple travel this rocky road you, the viewer, observe how charming, charismatic couple can change and evolve and hurt one another while still being in love. Stanley Donnen does a masterful job in moving things along. The storyline is not linear. You get to see the couple at various times in their relationship revisiting them at crucial stages. The result is an engaging film that demands your attention. The European setting is romantic, umor balancing the pathos of their life, and the viewer coming away with perhaps some universal truths of what it means to be connected. Audry Hepburn is class personified and Finney, in a word, a hunk!

This doesn't feel like an Amercan film of that time period. It feels very Eurpopean in a good way. Its unique in that jumps from flashbacks and modern time in a coherant way. Also that it isn't a romantic comedy in that cliched way.

Full review to come.

Being the fan that I am of Audrey Hepburn, I made it an order to myself that I must complete all of her films this year. Somehow, get my hands on em' and watch em' all. Some of them are hard to find, but I will accomplish this task.

For Christmas, I recieved 3 of her films. 2 of which I'd already seen (My Fair Lady and Charade) The other was Two for the Road. Now, I just got around to watching this night before last because we always have movies we've rented that we have to watch first, and I was trying to wait for the hubby to watch it with me. At that moment, he was busy and I wanted to watch it so bad that I couldn't contain myself, popped it in, and watched it alone. I LOVED IT. That's an understatement.

Comments pending.