Review of The Way We Were (1973) by Mimi S — 02 Jun 2014

***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***.

The Way We Were is one of the saddest romantic films I've seen. It's about two opposites who fall madly in love, but their differences threaten their relationship. It's not a typical cliche film about poor body and rich girl or vice versa with the families against the relationship. Although the leads are of different backgrounds, it's not as cliche and as simple as rich and poor. The story is about Katie Morosky (Barbra Streisand), a radical Marxist Jew and a WASPY pretty boy, Hubbell Gardner (Robert Redford). The two meet at college and strike up a sort of friendship but never act on their attraction. They meet again a few years after college and begin a relationship. However Katie's radical and passionate views make her an outcast among Hubbell's friends and when Hubbell decides to move to Hollywood to write a screenplay, their relationship is further tested by Katie's political activism which threatens to ruin Hubbell's career.

The Way We Were really is a forgotten classic. The chemistry between Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford is really strong and believable. Streisand is both a talented actress and singer; she's very feisty and energetic and puts a lot of heart and soul into her role. Whilst I love Robert Redford and he's certainly hot stuff ;), he's always been more of a Ryan Reynolds type piece of eye candy to drool over instead of a serious actor. However he's decent in this and plays his respective role well. His character Hubbell Gardiner (what kind of name is Hubbell anyway) isn't your typical romantic hero; he's a coward who looks for the easy way out and gives up far too easily. By the end of the film my respect for him went out of the window; I'm like dude you're a dick!

I think sadly that this film is really applicable to the world we live in now. Whilst this film is cynical, it's realistic. It goes to show that relationships don't always work out no matter how smitten and in love the couple seem to be and that people do give up too easily. It really makes you question what love really is and is it really love if one isn't prepared to make sacrafices? It certainly gives you a lot of food for thought and I certainly admire the film's honestly. The story is beautifully told and is extremely poignant with some mesmorizing and truly romantic scenes. Although I'm all for happy endings I think sometimes it's good to see something a bit more realistic to remind us that relationships and love aren't as easy as Hollywood makes it seem. This is kind of like 500 Days of Summer in a way- a love story which isn't meant to be. I really recommend this film, like I mentioned it's a forgotten classic.

Grade: A-/B+.