The Way We Were (1973)

Summary: Well, I'm just going to give you the seemingly ubiquitous plot summary: "Two people, Hubbell Gardner (Robert Redford) and Katie Morosky (Barbara Streisand), have a wonderful romance, but their political views (he's conservative, she's a commie) and convictions (he's about people, she's about principles) drive them apart." Plus you get some McCarthyism and snappy seventies outfits.

Misty water coloured memories! Okay, I just had to get that out of my system before I kept writing.

Oh, young Robert Redford. I don't know what it is about him. I wouldn't go as far as to say that I am particularly attracted to him, yet I am drawn to him. He's magnetic - what else can I say? Passionate and optimistic, but he can turn cold with the drop of a hat. You've just got to watch Redford.

I don't feel the same way about Streisand, though. I love her with Redford, and that scene at the end really is killer - it just wouldn't be without her - but I'm not sure what the big deal is about her. I don't much care for her singing voice.

The screenplay, by Arthur Laurents and David Rayfiel, is intelligent and focused, and it works with Sydney Pollack's careful direction. The direction, in my opinion, may have been a bit too careful, but I guess it was 1973.

Overall, not the best love story I've ever seen. A good one nonetheless. B+