I know, I know. You wouldn't peg me for the type to rent this movie, but there was an old Gilda Radner sketch (left photo) where she plays Lisa Loopner, a girl obsessed with The Way We Were, who tries to get through a performance of "Memories", but ends up spending most of the time telling the audience about how much she loves the movie. I loved that sketch, so I decided to watch the movie when I had a chance. Bad decision.

The movie follows the relationship of Katie and Hubbell. They had nothing in common in college, but when reunited years later, they unintelligently form a relationship together despite the fact that they still have nothing in common. Katie is very opinionated about politics, and her involvement with them give the couple a lot of trouble in their relationship, not to mention in their careers.

I'll admit that I was kind of half-watching this while working on the computer, but it actually took me a little while to figure out the time period in which the story took place. It wasn't until the day of FDR's death that I found out we were in the 40s, and I was surprised, especially considering Barbara Streiand's very 70s makeup and the distinctly 70s look to all of Redford's clothing. Something else that drove me crazy was that Robert Redford was in his late 30s and playing a college student in the early scenes. Neither actor looked even close to college-aged, and the makeup department didn't seem to do much to even pretend that they aged throughout the movie, which spans a good number of years.

Well, let's get on to my real thoughts, which are about how terrible this movie is. It's terrible because it was obvious from the start that these two people did not belong together, and because there was nothing about Katie's character that would have given Hubbell any reason to love her. She was so opinionated and unchecked about her political beliefs that she couldn't tolerate a single word contrary to what she believed.

But the most terrible thing about this movie is the foundation on which these two begin their relationship. They barely knew each other existed in college. Years later, they meet in a bar, where Hubbell is drunk. Katie brings him to her apartment for a place to sleep. He sleeps naked, and when she checks up on him, she is so desperate for love that she disrobes, joins him in bed, and lets him make love to her in his drunken state (which almost looks like it's completely in his sleep, and he doesn't remember anything the next day). The scene is meant to show how lonely she is. Fine, she's lonely. But she's also taking advantage of Hubbell, because he doesn't know what's going on and has no memory of it. That's called date rape, folks. She doesn't tell him about it the next day, or ever, and lets their relationship build without ever telling him about it.

So let's summarize, shall we? They have nothing in common in their college years, nothing in common later on, disagree drastically in the political realm, come from different social circles, and their relationship begins after a date rape has occurred and has been lied about (by omission). Katie's character is able to develop some as the years go on which gives the movie slight redemptive value, but I just don't understand why I should watch a movie about a relationship that's destined to fail.

I can't understand why this is considered one of the best love story movies in existence. For me, it was an experience of annoyance, shock, and boredom.

I saw a link to this over at The Animation Show.

Adjustment is a spectacular short film that absolutely everybody must watch. I would like to describe what it's like, but I think the work speaks well for itself, and it's only a few minutes long anyway. I'll just say that it is a phenomenal bit of film making that does things with live action and animation that I've never seen before. Also, the animated bits are perfectly woven into the story for maximum emotional effect.

I could go on, but it would be easier for you to just watch it. Promise me you will.