Customer Reviews

Same Time Next Year [VHS]

5 star:		(103)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is one of those rare gems -- a movie based on a stage play that is true to the original.

The premise is simple: a man and a woman happen to meet at a romantic Pacific coast inn in the 1950s, spend a night together, and discover that they're both married -- with children, no less! How do they deal with it? Well, after getting past the initial shock and guilt (she yells into a towel, he lies about his wife's name and the number of children he has), they agree to meet every year, same weekend, same place. We, the audience, are allowed to observe every 5th meeting in the same room.

We see the changes in the relationship, the changes in each of the participants, the changing times. We get to know Doris and George through these slices of time, laugh with them, cry with them, always with the question -- will they ever leave their respective partners and follow their hearts? It's definitely a relationship based more on mutual respect and friendship, despite its extra-marital foundation. You get the feeling that these two individuals are truly soul-mates who just happened to meet.

Alan Alda gives an amazing performance, beginning as a guilt-ridden rather milk-toast-ish accountant. Without giving away the plot twists, he goes through many changes and personal crises, and still manages to stay a reasonably likable, vulnerable man.

Ellen Burstyn, as Doris, enters into this as a rather ditzy young wife on her way to a Catholic retreat with the nuns, who manages to grow up over the years. It's a treat to see the changes in these characters with each change of scene.

Bernard Slade's original two-person play with its witty dialogue is preserved almost intact, with only one new character in the movie that isn't in the play ("old Mr. Chalmers"). If anything, the movie improves the original through the music and photo montages that separate the scenes (the entre-acte song, "The Last Time I Felt Like This" was nominated for an Academy Award).

This is definitely worth seeing for the superb performances of Alda and Burstyn.

This movie brilliantly explores the concept of the stable and sustainable affair, built by two people so responsible and so "nice" they would never seek such a thing, and once there never want harm to their spouses - but who find their new love as compelling as their first and as impossible to leave. The origin of the affair here is almost an afterthought - the real focus is on the maturing of the new relationship across a huge span of years.

This movie resonates with me because it is my story - after finding one who would have been the love of my life more than 20 years ago but who was then engaged, I did the "proper" thing and let her go but never stopped loving her. Meeting again several years ago, we realized the mistake and despite both being married with children we began to meet once a year at a college reunion, holding that time aside for us while the rest of the year belonged to our spouses. The affair was not destined to mirror STNY (how did they ever keep it secret? We couldn't...) but the feelings haven't changed - I just don't have the annual weekend to look forward to anymore...!!

The message of this movie that resonates so strongly is that it is possible to love two people deeply and romantically - and to sustain such feelings - and responsibilities - over a very long period. A moral minefield? Of course - but far from the typical Hollywood fantasy that filmgoers have difficulty identifying with.

The movie for me was a study of a situation that I have lived with for a long time - and I would wager that there are many like me who find understanding and solace in this film. However, it is not only for those who can identify with the message - it brilliantly challenges your assumptions and world view as the best movies tend to do.

I cannot watch this film without crying at the ending - you are brought along in caring about the characters so strongly that their love becomes something that matters to you too.

Having worn out more than one copy of the VHS movie, I have desperately waited for its DVD release - and am absolutely thrilled tonight. I will be pre-ordering it immediately (maybe a couple copies...)

This movie may not be wonderful for those who dismiss adultery as immoral without question - but if you are willing to lower the barriers for two hours to at least hear out another side to the story, you will be richly rewarded.

Highly recommended....

"Same time,next year" is a very good movie with outstanding performances and a solid script. It tells about the story of an adultereous couple, George & Doris,who have a reunion every year at the same day and the same place, a lovely hotel in California,and everytime we discover a new part of their characters and their own lives. The picture has been represented by six meetings over 26 years. The first one shows us their first meeting in 1951:they both hit by passion at first sight; the second portrayed is in 1956: while they're celebrateing their 5th anniversary they must face their first quarrel;then we move into 1961 when George helps Doris to give birth to her baby;in 1966 Doris has changed her life-style attending the university and becoming an hippie woman while George is getting more and more serious...;in 1972 things change again with Doris as an incredible business woman and finally in 1977 the couple must face for the very first time the meaning of being in love with each other.Among the several meetings there are touching clips representing the symbols of those years.Alan Alda is excellent but Ellen Burstyn takes the cake with a stunning performance.This is a picture who deals topics like regret, love, passion and nostalgia of lost time with sensitivity and good taste.Nominated for 4 Academy Awards:Actress(Burstyn),Adapted script,Cinematography and Original song.

After I watched this film, I felt like someone had ripped my heart out, stomped on it and then put it back.

The acting is excellent, especially on the part of Ellen Burstyn, who is always just fabulous in everything she does. She and Alan Alda managed to make even the silly lines seem natural and appropriate. After playing the character on stage, Ms. Burstyn obviously embodied Doris by the time she made the film.

While I found both George and Doris irritating at first, they grew on me, and by the time it was over, I found myself liking and even respecting them. I don't think adultery is ever acceptable, but somehow they made you forget what they were doing was wrong because of their chemistry and bond.

I saw Same Time, Next Year for the first time this year and it does seem a little dated in some ways. However, I believe that the core message is basically timeless. Both actors do a great job of conveying the personal and physical changes that the characters were supposed to be undergoing over the course of 26 years. I think I read somewhere that Ellen Burstyn only has one adopted child, but she was completely natural in the part where Doris was pregnant. You would have thought SHE really was pregnant at the time.

Overall, though, I don't think I could put myself through the emotional distress of watching this film very often. Yes, it is sweet, touching and even funny at times. But, I also found it gut-wrenching. The whole concept that two people who are soul-mates could find one another by chance in the great big world but can't really be together is one of the saddest things I can conceive.

Perhaps what made the love Doris and George had for each other so special WAS the fact that they spent only one weekend a year together. What they had never became mundane or tired because of how little time they had together. It makes you wonder if they would have made it as a couple on a day-to day basis. If you really love someone as much as they seemed to love each other, 2 days a year together is simply not enough. You want to share everything with them.

While I admire their devotion to their families, these two characters just broke my heart. I probably don't appreciate film for film's sake enough, but I've accepted that I like traditional happy endings. This one was a little too bittersweet for me. I bawled like I had lost a loved one when it was over. In fact, if I want to cry on cue, all I have to do is think about Same Time, Next Year.

It would be interesting to see someone make a film of the sequel. I think both Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn (especially Burstyn, who is even more stunning now at nearly 70) could believably play George and Doris again from the ages of early 50s to late 60s. I'll probably just have to picture that one in my mind's eye.

Poignant and powerful, this incredible bittersweet love story will bring tears to the eyes of anyone who has an understanding of what life is really about. It is virtually flawless and shows what can be done with a good story premise, good acting, and a simple set. No special effects or computerized videographics are needed.The subject of adultry is treated in a way that is bound to raise conflict in those who are morally sensitive. At the end one can only sympathise with the couple who, in their own way, were soulmates for 26 years, yet also in their own way remained loyal and devoted to their spouses and families. Impossible? See this film before drawing any conclusions. I am not an Alda fan, but for this one I make a strong exception. He is very convincing. And Ellen Burstyn is the girl next door that any man who breathes would fall in love with. Their chemistry in the film is electric.This story is about morality that transcends the tawdry urges of the flesh. In this respect it is both a love story and a morality play. I am sure that variations of the plot have actually occurred in real life but have been taken to the grave to avoid hurting loved ones. This is about average people caught up in a situation they could neither resist, understand, or control.Don't pass this one up.

My husband and I have watched this film many times over the years, but we were pleasantly surprised at the clarity of the picture on the new DVD release. We saw things we had never seen before! The scenery of California's Mendocino Coast is beautiful, and one can almost feel the wind blowing. The story affects us differently as we also age. We tend to identify with the characters (not surprisingly!)when they are our own ages. Having been born in the late 40s, their first encounters were in our childhood, but we remember many of the cars, hair and dress styles. The historical data between the "acts" challenges us to identify the persons and events related. Is there a list of that anywhere?

The film is a definite must-see for all who like a good romantic film, even with the wrong basic premise. It could almost make adultery popular!

...as is the chemistry between leads Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn who make an extremly convincing couple in this film which is sympathetically inclined to some cases of adultery.

Two guests at a travel inn, the nuerotic and somewhat manic George and the clever, clear-headed Doris, both married and parents, meet and fall instantly in love. After that night, they end up spending the whole week-end together and eventually decide to meet up there every year.

Although their relationship is not conducted in the ideal situation, they are certainly likeable and interesting as both individuals and a couple and that's thanks to good writing, acting and direction.

As they grow over the years and tackle the unpredictability of life head-on the film progresses at a nice, even pace and is an utter joy to watch. Even the cliche scene where Doris is pregnant can be forgiven.

Having started as a stage play I only became acquainted with this flick via the television but I have seen the sequal performed at the theatre and that is a joy as well. And, just in case you were wondering, the write of this play says he writes from imagination. I believe him, thousands wouldn't......

Very good indeed.

Filmed at Heritage House, a sprawling Bed & Breakfast on California's Mendocino Coast, Same Time Next year features Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn as an adulterous couple who, over a quarter of a century, meet annually for a weekend at the same hideaway. Besides spanning the lives of this couple, who are each married-with-family, the film also spans some of the most convulsive, tumultuous, and confusing years of the country's history.
Beautiful, tasteful, and worth watching again and again.

I first saw this movie in the theater and loved it then. It's been great to see it again as an adult. I don't see the infidelity as being glorified, if anything it emplifies how a forbidden affair is just a sad shadow of what a real love relationship could be. This movie shows how each person changes and how the other has missed out on so much of that person's life and how they are only allowed just a glimpse of each other. They aren't able to be available to each other during difficult times or take part in any of the joyous events.
None the less this movie is able to pull off a very romantic ,and on some strange level, a very committed relationship. Don't we all have that person in our lives whom we don't get to see very often that rejuvinates us. Hopefully those relationships are plutonic but in this case it's not and makes for a great story.

A hilarious romantic comedy about two "squares" who somehow fall into lust during the 1950's in a secluded coastline get-away. Lust evolves into love and love evolves as their two lives seems inexorably out of phase; she's liberal, he's conservative and then they switch. Through all the turmoil created by current events over the 26 years of the movie's timeline, they remain enchanted with each other once a year as their love and deep respect for each other matures while their "real" lives keeps them intertwined. The characters grow together despite their limited contact. Every year's meeting is a matured relationship started anew.

Alan Alda's acting reflects the happy-go-lucky attitude most associate with his MASH character. Ellyn Burstyn is brilliant. Marvelous acting and a great story line.

This is an absolutely enjoyable movie that you can watch over and over again, enjoying it more with each viewing.