Review of The Way We Were (1973) by Sharon C — 08 Jul 2010

The Way We Were (1973).

Written by Arthur Laurents.

Directed by Sydney Pollack.

Starring: Barbra Streisand (Katie Morosky) and Robert Redford (Hubbell Gardner).

I hated it. I just don't get it. People compare this film to "Love Story" and "An Affair to Remember," are you kidding me? I found no part of "The Way We Were" worthy of the acclaim and status it boasts.

It's a "tragic love story"...but not really. At no point did I see actual love between these characters. She worships him, then basically rapes him, so he feels some sort of obligation to be with her, and it drags on and on for years until she has a baby to replace the cavernous void of affection in her life? Yikes.

Katie is that girl that gives all women a bad name for being clingy and desperate. The most nauseating scene occurring after their first big break up when she calls and begs him to come over because he's her only friend and she can't sleep. I almost turned the movie off right there. Shameful.

Though Hubbell's no better: the secretly self-loathing All-American boy next door who uses the nerdy feminist because she drools all over him and boosts his ego. An epic cinematic relationship, no?

And there is no "tragedy" in their ultimate split. I didn't I feel the pangs of regret and pity so many told me I would feel in the last scene. It seems to me that she ends up doing a lot better without Hubbell.

I have no idea why this movie is considered a classic. Sure, Streisand gives a great performance, but I'd rather watch "Yentl," and it covers some important time periods and political points, but those moments are too few.

Overall: "If we had the chance to do it all again tell me, would we? Could we?"...Not unless someone's taped my eyelids open and tied me to a chair.

Rating: The Cutting Edge.

Best Quote: "When you love someone, from Roosevelt to me, you go deaf, dumb, and blind." -Hubbell.