Over the Christmas holidays in a small New England college town, a man and a woman share a brief interlude. He is there to visit his wife, who is a mental patient at the university, and she is there visiting her son, who is a student, after discovering her husband's infidelity.
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Reviews
That was an excellent one.
A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.
The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
SPOILER ALERT:This movie is brilliant. Sure, if you're looking for action, or fast speech, or melodrama, it's not for you. This quiet, absorbing film leads you on an emotional journey through the souls of two people that ends up touching your own. Thoughtful, not preachy, it examines the human spirit at its best and worst, in a sylvan setting that echoes many people's Christmas dreams. Essentially it celebrates our ability to rise above sadness and to remain open to others in this world while still embracing our principles. A moving, year-round movie with a sad and yet ultimately softly triumphant ending.
This is a slow-moving and gently philosophical film (see Plot Synopsis) about the subject of marriage, suitable chiefly for adults. It's a bit sad, but not really a tear-jerker, in my opinion. For its day, I think it has quite a bit of depth regarding commentary on marriage and sexual temptation. In the old-fashioned style of movies, nothing overtly sexual is shown, but those scenes are very striking and tenderly suggestive. I liked it quite a bit, and it also taught me something about fidelity, too (as another poster said). Its ending is not predictable but consonant with the characters' struggles and the film's attempt to address the underlying issues.
Something I learned in this movie has helped me avoid the temptation to have an affair. Even though Lloyd Bridges' wife is ill, (I think she was mentally ill, and would never love him again) and the alluring Shirley Jones is there for the taking; Lloyd stays with his wife. As he put it "How important it is to have someone to REMEMBER WITH. Without her, I have no past." Each time I think about this movie, I realize that my spouse is irreplaceable...and I love her more and more. There are lots of pretty faces and pretty bodies "out there", but you'll be happier if you stay with what you have.
The film is watchable, especially if you have a soft spot for homey New England countryside in wintertime, or for Lloyd Bridges or Shirley Jones in fairly small roles. They circle each other, she: self-depriving and disciplined by principle, stunted socially; he: rougish in a restrained and admirable sort of way, but refusing to divulge a lie to her.There is a hilarious scene in which John Sparrow (Lloyd Bridges) takes an afternoon jaunt on a Ski-Doo snowmobile, tearing around, laughing out loud and bailing out. This fad must have been in full swing in 1969 but looks bizarre and forced as an 'amusement' activity now! Later they take a picture perfect sleighride through Robert Frost country and you wish you were along.Post-Airplane, it's indeed hard to see Lloyd Bridges open a bottle of scotch whiskey without saying aloud "Looks like I picked the wrong week to give up drinking!" Seeing son Jeff Bridges play Lloyd in a flashback to his college days (scene is shot inside the old Amherst College "Cage" basketball gymnasium) is fun. Carrie Snodgress appears as a student with her boyfriend, who admonish John and Katherine as the "establishment types" for their old tired ethics, and all share in the merriment of the season....Cloris Leachman is wonderful in a cameo as the townie whom John may or may not recall from his past.Nice film to watch at Christmastime -- the action all unfolds in the day or two before Christmas, and resolves on Christmas morning.
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