Love Affair

Love Affair- 1994, Directed by Glenn Gordon Caron, Starring Warren Beatty, Annette Benning, Katharine Hepburn, Garry Shandling, Pierce Brosnan, Kate Capshaw, Harold Ramis, Ray Charles, and John Tesh

He says-  Soulless remake of the 1939 weepie (itself remade as An Affair to Remember), with Beatty as an ex-jock-turned-sportscaster and ladies man who chances to meet Benning on an eventful plane ride.  Frustrating film runs hot and cold; high point is the sequence with Hepburn (in her final feature film) as Beatty's feisty aunt.  Intrusive songs on the soundtrack are a debit, Conrad Hall's silky cinematography is a plus, but the biggest letdown is the ending, which stops short of a big, old-fashioned sentimental Hollywood finish--just what the movie really needs.  Beatty produced and cowrote with Robert Towne.  2 and a half stars

I say-  Even though he hated it, I actually liked this version of the movie the most.  I can't believe I've watched the same movie 3 times, but I feel like the most recent one is the most relatable.  Still predictable, and still didn't care for the story, but it was likable.  2 stars

Love Affair

Love Affair- 1939, Directed by Leo McCarey, starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer

He says-  Superior comedy-drama about shipboard romance whose continuation on-shore is interrupted by unforseen circumstances.  Dunne and Boyer are a marvelous match.  Screenplay by Delmer Daves and Donald Ogden Stewart, from story by Mildred Cram and Leo McCarey.  Remade by McCarey as An Affair to Remember, and a second time (by Warren Beatty).  Beware public-domain copy with entirely new music score.  3 and a half stars


I say-  Better than An Affair to Remember, but I just don't like the story.  Don't know if I got the public domain version or not, but who cares?  Better acting and chemistry, but still....thank god I only have one more version of this movie to go.

An Affair to Remember

So Netflix doesn't currently have the Affairs of Dobie Gillis so...

An Affair to Remember-  1957, Directed by Leo McCarey, starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr

He says-  Well-remembered but middling remake of McCarey's 1939 Love Affair.  Bubbling shipboard comedy in first half is overshadowed by draggy soap-opera cliches and unnecessary musical numbers in NYC finale.  Still, Grant and Kerr make a wonderful couple.  Film is a major reference point in 1993 hit Sleepless in Seattle.  Remade again as Love Affair in 1994.  Vic Damone croons the title song.  2 and a half stars

I say-  I don't understand why this movie is so well loved.  It wasn't great.  Very slow and overly long in places, and you know exactly where the movie is going from the beginning.  Here's to hoping the Love Affair movies are better.  1 star