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Same Time, Next Year

Same Time, Next Year

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I LOVED THE MOVIE AS WELL AS THE MUSIC
Review: THIS IS A MUST SEE FOR ANYONE THAT HAS EVER BEEN IN LOVE BECAUSE IT IS A MAGICAL AND FACINATING MOVIE

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Same Time Next Year delivers every yearr
Review: This is one of the classic romantic comedies. Superb acting by Burstyn and Alda; top direction and a brilliant linking technique that spans each 5 year break between scenes. Watch with your partner and revel in the romance. STNY remains watchable every year!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Well written, well acted . . .
Review: This is one of those rare gems -- a movie based on a stage play that is true to the original.

The premise is simple: a man and a woman happen to meet at a romantic Pacific coast inn in the 1950s, spend a night together, and discover that they're both married -- with children, no less! How do they deal with it? Well, after getting past the initial shock and guilt (she yells into a towel, he lies about his wife's name and the number of children he has), they agree to meet every year, same weekend, same place. We, the audience, are allowed to observe every 5th meeting in the same room.

We see the changes in the relationship, the changes in each of the participants, the changing times. We get to know Doris and George through these slices of time, laugh with them, cry with them, always with the question -- will they ever leave their respective partners and follow their hearts? It's definitely a relationship based more on mutual respect and friendship, despite its extra-marital foundation. You get the feeling that these two individuals are truly soul-mates who just happened to meet.

Alan Alda gives an amazing performance, beginning as a guilt-ridden rather milk-toast-ish accountant. Without giving away the plot twists, he goes through many changes and personal crises, and still manages to stay a reasonably likable, vulnerable man.

Ellen Burstyn, as Doris, enters into this as a rather ditzy young wife on her way to a Catholic retreat with the nuns, who manages to grow up over the years. It's a treat to see the changes in these characters with each change of scene.

Bernard Slade's original two-person play with its witty dialogue is preserved almost intact, with only one new character in the movie that isn't in the play ("old Mr. Chalmers"). If anything, the movie improves the original through the music and photo montages that separate the scenes (the entre-acte song, "The Last Time I Felt Like This" was nominated for an Academy Award).

This is definitely worth seeing for the superb performances of Alda and Burstyn.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Alan Alda at his best; unique storyline
Review: This is such a good film. You can't help but love the two manin characters despite the fact they are cheating on their spouses. The tender regard they have for them--they never bad mouth their spouses not one time--is odd and touching all at once. I had not thought about the idea of the two of them being soul mates, as the other reviwers mention, but perhaps that is what these two characters are. At any rate, it is a funny, endearing, touching film. Watch it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Well-constructed romantic play
Review: This is taken from a Noel-Coward like play about a married and a married woman who meet every year for a weekend for adultery. Like Brief Encounter, the couple seems both innocent and guilty about their affair. Unlike that play, however, the encounter is repeated annually for years and the relationship is more physical. There is some good age make-up, although Ellen Burstyn doesn't convince when she's at her youngest. The action does seem rather obviously adapted from a play, with scenes of the outside tacked on but redundant, and I feel it would be better to have just acknowledged the story's origins by keeping the action in the interior location. The music by Marvin Hamlisch is one of his best, and is used sparingly throughout the film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Stunningly Realistic and Powerful
Review: This movie brilliantly explores the concept of the stable and sustainable affair, built by two people so responsible and so "nice" they would never seek such a thing, and once there never want harm to their spouses - but who find their new love as compelling as their first and as impossible to leave. The origin of the affair here is almost an afterthought - the real focus is on the maturing of the new relationship across a huge span of years.

This movie resonates with me because it is my story - after finding one who would have been the love of my life more than 20 years ago but who was then engaged, I did the "proper" thing and let her go but never stopped loving her. Meeting again several years ago, we realized the mistake and despite both being married with children we began to meet once a year at a college reunion, holding that time aside for us while the rest of the year belonged to our spouses. The affair was not destined to mirror STNY (how did they ever keep it secret? We couldn't...) but the feelings haven't changed - I just don't have the annual weekend to look forward to anymore...!!

The message of this movie that resonates so strongly is that it is possible to love two people deeply and romantically - and to sustain such feelings - and responsibilities - over a very long period. A moral minefield? Of course - but far from the typical Hollywood fantasy that filmgoers have difficulty identifying with.

The movie for me was a study of a situation that I have lived with for a long time - and I would wager that there are many like me who find understanding and solace in this film. However, it is not only for those who can identify with the message - it brilliantly challenges your assumptions and world view as the best movies tend to do.

I cannot watch this film without crying at the ending - you are brought along in caring about the characters so strongly that their love becomes something that matters to you too.

Having worn out more than one copy of the VHS movie, I have desperately waited for its DVD release - and am absolutely thrilled tonight. I will be pre-ordering it immediately (maybe a couple copies...)

This movie may not be wonderful for those who dismiss adultery as immoral without question - but if you are willing to lower the barriers for two hours to at least hear out another side to the story, you will be richly rewarded.

Highly recommended....

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fabulous movie... as good as the stage production !
Review: Where can I find the soundtrack , or the main theme song of the movie


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