Review of An Affair to Remember (1957) by Matthew D — 26 Dec 2018

Melodrama and romance in An Affair to Remember!

As cute and romantic as An Affair to Remember (1957) certainly is, the film loses steam halfway through. I found the affair part far more memorable than the proceeding on and off again tragedy. The boat ride is such a quaint setting and the romancing is very sweet and playful. After the sentimental and sweet visit to grandma's in France, the movie slows down for some serious contrived conflicts.

I do not like Cary Grant's tan, the forced issue of Deborah Kerr's accident, nor Grant's not being informed of said accident. She would only hold back such information in a movie script, it never feels realistic or grounded.

On the other hand, Cary Grant is very charming and handsome in An Affair to Remember. Even though he's a cheater, he is very funny and suave enough to like as a main character. He is the real draw here as you genuinely start to feel sorry for him.

Then, there's Deborah Kerr. She is beautiful and charming, but I feel like other than her dialogue, she doesn't get to do anything. The tedious child choir songs she conducts are so bad and awkward. I liked her flirtatious charms from the first half, but Kerr suddenly disappears in the convoluted plot and feels secondary to Grant by the end. Her decisions are so strangely accounted for in the script that Kerr has little to work with, but at least she sings wonderfully.

I love the main theme music, especially during the piano serenade at Grant's grandmother's home in France. It's a sweet moment that takes you away. Unfortunately, the pacing of An Affair to Remember starts slow and turns to molasses as you are just waiting for them to get together again.

Overall, Leo McCarey is a talented director for setting up fun sequences and cute shots of the couple, but An Affair to Remember is edited to make you fall asleep. This story could have been told beautifully in an hour and a half instead of two whole hours worth of fluff. An Affair to Remember reaches for the unforgettable, but falls into the mediocre by the finale.