Review of Same Time, Next Year (1978) by Anil J — 12 Feb 2011

I saw 20 minutes from the middle of this on TV probably five years ago and thought "looks pretty good." I think they were the best 20 minutes of the movie. Overall, this one comes off like your average community theatre play, and it appears to have a lot of lines that would have worked better on stage.

The problem (well, a problem, there are a quite a few) is that this was shot as though it were on stage, in a lot of long shots in front of cheap scenery. The acting is so-so, but the dialogue is brutal - fast-forward the first 15 minutes or more, you won't miss anything - and the plot clunks along.

And yet, strangely, the story does gets its hooks in you. You can't stop watching. You need to know how it ends. Unfortunately, this is just mediocre or worse on so many levels that the interesting premise can't save it.