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| Average Rating: |
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| Sales Rank: | 130942 (lower is better) |
| Price Used: | $15.98 |
| Shipping: | Free Shipping on most orders over $25* |
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| Director: | Stanley Donen |
| Binding: | DVD |
| ASIN: | B0002ADWIA |
| Category: | DVD |
Actors and Actresses
Editorial Reviews and Product Descriptions
Amazon.com
Best known for light, entertaining musicals such as Singin' in the Rain, director Stanley Donen grew more adventurous (and less successful) in the latter stages of his career, but this edgy romantic comedy from 1967 has proven to be one of Donen's best, most enduring films. Jumping back in forth in time, the film chronicles the marital ups and downs of a stylish British couple (Albert Finney and Audrey Hepburn) as they travel on various vacations over the course of their 12-year marriage. The separate vignettes combine to form a collage of joys and pains as the young couple struggles to maintain their fading marital bliss. In this regard, the film is refreshingly sophisticated in its treatment of the difficulties of long-term commitment, and with Hepburn and Finney in the leads, great performances are drawn from the acerbic wit of Frederick Raphael's screenplay. Fashion mavens will also marvel at Hepburn's astonishing wardrobe of late-'60s fashion--she's a showcase for summer couture, looking fantastic in everything from candy-striped bellbottoms to hip sunglasses and outrageously stylish hats. Some of the melodrama clashes with forced comedy (such as tiresome running gags or a cartoonish portrayal of crass American tourists), but that doesn't stop Two for the Road from being timelessly appealing and truthful to the challenge of lasting love. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
A trip worth taking - Reviewed on 2008-11-22
Such a classic -- the Simpsons honored it with a parody (11/9/2008's "Dangerous Curves")! Hepburn was never lovelier, and Finney was a fine figure of a man in this vignette-filled study of a romance/marriage. Set in Europe, using the device of various road-trips, "Two.." shows the ups, downs, and déja-vus of a 10-year relationship. Sure, some of it seems dated, but its heart rings true. (Don't miss the wacky couple Eleanor Bron/William Daniels as "ugly Americans," or the early scene with the young, not-in-the-opening-credits Jacqueline Bisset.) It's a rocky road to love, but it's a great trip in their cars. Not to be missed!
Both style & substance - Reviewed on 2008-08-27
1 customer found this review helpful.
As a callow teenager, I didn't think much of this film. Now older & married, I appreciate it more & more each time I see it, discovering something new & insightful with each new viewing. Mark & Joanna seem like old friends to me now.
It's a fascinating piece of work, an intersection between the classic era of Hollywood filmmaking (then drawing to an end) & the fresh, experimental techniques of the 1960s. Does this make it a period piece? Well, it's certainly of its time ... but in a good way, as it embodies all the energy & vivid sense of life from that decade. And its somewhat golden, romantic glow is really timeless, since memories of the first days of love are so idealized & wondrous.
The cross-cutting between years is especially effective here, reinforcing the sense of memories under review, one leading to another in no particular order. The repetition of certain scenes & lines of dialogue, with VERY different emotional tones over the years, conveys the changes in this marriage succinctly & sharply.
And then there's the look of it! Audrey Hepburn & Albert Finney are both stunningly attractive, radiating beauty & sexuality with all the fire of the French sun above their heads. It's particularly good to see Hepburn playing a grown woman in all of her complexity -- while there was never a screen gamine to match hers, she was capable of so much more, and proves it here. Plus, she wears stylish clothes like a dream!
Some reviewers have complained about Albert Finney's portrayal of Mark -- self-centered, even brutal in his drive & confidence, so absolutely sure of his handsome irresistibility. But I think those are some of the qualities that attracted Joanna in the first place. She wanted someone to match her ... because of course she's just as aware of her own considerable qualities.
Does this make them shallow, self-absorbed? I don't think so. For any couple in love, especially in the prime of youth, there's really nobody else in the world -- certainly nobody else to match themselves. But as time goes by & a little more reality sets in, we see how they struggle & often stumble, trying to adjust to so many changes. Life has a way of overtaking the first blaze of romance, and not every marriage survives it.
And that's the question, after all. Can marriage survive the inevitabilities of growing up? "Two for the Road" explores that question in a meandering but surprisingly in-depth fashion. Along the way it provides us with a remarkable portrait of a couple, an era, and a classic style of filmmaking. The highly informative & entertaining commentary track by director Stanley Donen only adds to the pleasures of this film. Enthusiastically recommended!
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