Dirtylogy
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Maz-hell
This movie is incredible for its time. It is actually really funny for a start, something recent "comedies" had forgotten to do.Both actors are marvelous. Considering their makeup was also on point it is actually a believable aging process movie.The music is sparce, but great.The plot was surprisingly deep, even made you question some of your own desitions.The scenography was bland. It never changed... and remember, this was supposed to be for 25 years. A great movie. Would watch again for laughs.
tvmamadiva
I have always wanted to see this movie but hadn't had the opportunity until now. It was well worth the wait! I absolutely loved it! Being a long time fan of both Burstyn and Alda, their performances did not disappoint. The subtle comedic jabs of Alda's guilt ridden George added strength to the already deep soul searching hearty dialogue. While Burstyn's ever evolving Doris balanced out the emotional ups and downs of their 25 plus years affair. The in-between pics of the events that shaped the times was a seamless way to move the years along. With such a sensitive subject as this movie examines; it is done in such a way that it leaves the viewer non judgmental but instead routing for their relationship to go the distance. And of course who could go wrong with a soundtrack by Johnny Mathis. SUPERB!
edwinalarren
The monotony of marriage manifests itself through a potpourri of boring actions, usually there is nothing wrong with your marriage, yet, often times, there is nothing right with your marriage either!! Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn play two people who were brought together by a happenstance encounter. Dining alone became dining together, and the rest, as they say, is history. Everything between the two of them seemed to click!! Eventually, their elongated diatribes of discontentment garnered some sort of precariously unexplained kindred spirit. Both characters' penchant for conventionalism made them reluctant to establish extra marital relations. Bottom line, the two of them may as well have flipped a coin, heads, they do it (In a manner of speaking). This is where the plot of the movie is established!! Here was the attraction, at some point, your married life of the kids, the mortgage, and the dog, must be given a reprieve for just one weekend out of an entire year. At this point, it is time to pontificate, placate, theorize, ruminate, and, most importantly, it is also a time to listen to each other. Americans call it infidelity, most archaic nations call it a mistress!! The favorite euphemism for this situation is surrogacy!! Now enters, the comprehension of hang ups, afflictions, and overall resilience which both these characters possess!!! This little endeavor of marital indiscretion was for purposes of emotional nurturing, as well as a reaffirmation of each other's necessary fortitude. Both Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn felt so justified for their actions that even mere mention of recrimination for these actions was categorized as utterly ludicrous!! In this affair, everything else was preempted by a bittersweet stoicism that mandated that this theatrical adultery linger on for 27 years and counting!! "Same Time Next Year" was originally a stage play, the dialog attempted to be witty, it did not fail, however, it was not filled with razor sharp wit either!! Movies which started out as stage plays are intriguing to me because they itemize the expressions of their characters far more effectively than a typical high budget Hollywood film!! The snippets of pop culture throughout the different decades of this film signified the change in attitudes the main characters (Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn) experienced!! The most significant concept to emanate from this movie was that 99% of your life was about doing the right thing!! The other one percent is reserved for you, and the type of person you are!! You are permitted to do one wrong thing to make all of the right things better, if you know what I mean!! In essence, the amelioration for marital infidelity in this movie served as a subterfuge for white collar psycho analysis!! Richard Mulligan directs this film, he is best known for "To Kill A Mockingbird", "Inside Daisy Clover" is my favorite Mulligan film!! The cinematography to the film "Same Time Next Year" was sensational!! The theme song "The Last Time I Felt Like This" was on the charts forever back in 1978!! My overall assessment of "Same Time Next Year" is that it was successfully unique!! Very good movie, I liked it very much!!
evanston_dad
This two-person play is transferred to the screen without being able to escape its stage origins, but it offers a great opportunity to see two fine actors give two fine performances.Ellen Burstyn and Alan Alda play lovers who meet once a year at the same time and place for a weekend together. In between, they live their separate lives with their respective families, and they spend as much time catching each other up about the goings on in their individual worlds as they do fooling around during their yearly trysts.Burstyn and Alda are a joy to watch, and they handle the evolution of their characters well. The movie itself gets better as the two principals age -- the early scenes don't come off as well (the worst segment is one in which Burstyn's simple housewife experiments with hippie-dom while Alda's uptight Republican struggles with the death of a son in Vietnam), but the later scenes are simply wonderful, full of a poignancy that resists sentimentality.And I love the theme song to this movie. My wife and I had it played at our wedding.Grade: B+
