Customer Review

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3.0 out of 5 stars Memory Lane Is A Bumpy Road, Jan 6 2004
This review is from: Two for the Road (VHS Tape)
Some films from the Sixties have dated more than others. I loved this film when it first came out and for years had many pleasant memories of it. Some years ago, my English wife and I travelled across France by road from Calais to the Med and throughout the journey I had images of this film constantly re-playing in my head. So I looked forward to seeing it again after a long time. I don't know whether the times have changed that much, or I have. What once seemed witty, relevant, truthful, charming and modern now strikes me as a somewhat pretentious mess. I seem to remember more comedy than there actually is in the film. The scenes of the crumbling marriage are much too stark a contrast to the lighter tone of other scenes. Moving the storyline back and forth in time is not a problem, but the frequently uncertain tone is. Is it a comedy? A drama? A comedy/drama? A drama/comedy? Who knows? Certainly not Stanley Donen who was so much more assured directing Audrey Hepburn in Charade. Audrey is Audrey, even in the dramatic scenes. Albert Finney bounces between being a latter day Tom Jones and an upmarket Jimmy Porter. The chemistry between the two is marginal. The sequence with Eleanor Bron and William Daniels - two wonderful performers in other circumstances - now seems strained and tedious. The only saving graces are the French countryside and Henry Mancini's music (one of his best scores). Maybe someone seeing the film for the first time will enjoy it more. I remember once hearing that Meg Ryan wanted to do a re-make of Two For The Road. Lets pray to the gods of cinema that it never happens.
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