Customer Reviews

Two for the Road [VHS]

5 star:		(82)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

"Two For the Road" is a lovely, seriocomic movie about the ups and downs of a long relationship between Joanna (played by Audrey Hepburn) and Mark (played by Albert Finney). Joanna and Mark first cross paths as students traveling across Europe. They wind up hitchhiking together and eventually falling in love.

The story is told through flashbacks. We follow the couple from their early carefree infatuation through marriage, parenthood, boredom, infidelity, and finally renewal of their relationship.

Along the way, there are some memorable vignettes involving Joanna and Mark vacationing with another couple Howard and Cathy Manchester (amusingly played by William Daniels and Eleanor Bron) and their daughter Ruthie Manchester. Howard and Cathy must be the most wittily neurotic twosome in movies and their daughter Ruthie is probably the most obnoxious child in movie history.

The performances are uniformly excellent. The direction by Stanley Donen is stylish and sophisticated. Frederic Raphael's screenplay is alternately romantic and cynical. And Henry Mancini's exquisitely beautiful score is one of this fine composer's very best. "Two For the Road" is an enormous pleasure.

I fell in love with this movie at age 14, when it played for several months at the Plaza Theatre in NYC, where I saw it no less than three times. Although, at that age, I was a little confused by the film's structure, in which scenes from four different stages of the marriage of Mark and Joanna, the main characters, are juxtaposed, I did understand and appreciate the film's basic theme, that passionate love is enduring and, seemingly irrationally, can survive even the boredom that is inevitable in a long relationship. The energy and intelligence of Finney and Hepburn give this quirky little film an added vitality and render the relationship of Mark and Joanna believable and even endearing. This may be a serio-comedic film, but like serio-comedic life, it is infused with joy. I loved it in 1964,and I love it now. Everyone who is a little quirky should buy it, because it captures the essence of something special and a little off-center -- whatever it is that keeps Mark and Joanna together -- that will never be outdated.

Not one scene of Two For The Road should be missed. Way ahead of its time on marriage and the humor, drama, the sense of loss at the close make it watcahble many times over.

Hepburn and Finney are so fabulous, and the rest of the cast is up to the standard set by the two magnificent leads. Can Audrey Hepburn do any wrong?

Stanley Donen directed with the same genius as Singin' In The Rain(forget Kelly), and Funny Face. This is sheer magic, but it has twists and things to say that do not fit middle class sensibilites, thank God.

Buy this on DVD. You will adore it. One cannnot say enough about Two For The Road.

Undoubtedly Hepburn's most accomplished performance but ironically, one of her least known films. This has been my favourite film for many years not least because of the memories it brings back of family driving holidays in France. Finney is miscast and a bit clumsy but the evocative music and sharp script lift it above such minor problems. This is Hepburn's film, however, and she should have been Oscar nominated for this rather than her other 1967 movie, Wait Unitl Dark. For someone criticised for being a limited actress, she somehow manages to express the gamut of emotions ranging from a naive young girl to an embittered wife. She is exquisite. This movie should be watched by all hopeless romantics on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Preferably with someone you love.

AT LONG LAST, Fox has FINALLY put this movie out on DVD. This is one of my favorite films and along with Roman Holiday, my favorite Audrey Hepburn film. Released in 1967, decades ahead of its time, it was over the heads of most viewers and failed to find much of an audience. But over the years its attracted a fanatical cult who just love it. And I'm certainly among them. Road is what I'd call a realistically romantic love story. One that ends HOPEFULLY more so than happily ever after. Rather than tell the story in a conventional sense, writer Frederic Raphael (Darling; Eyes Wide Shut) tells it in a series of flashbacks. But even the flashbacks dont unfold in a conventional sense. Rather, like memories, they weave in and out of time: linked by locales, people, even conversations. The movie opens with Joanna and Mark wondering if its all been worth it after 12 yrs of marriage. Both are somewhat bitter and cynical and wondering what went wrong. Using their summer vacations to France as they travel through their marriage memories, the movie is a unique cinematic road trip. The movie isnt that difficult to follow. There are a half dozen different time periods and you can easily tell where you are in time by the cars, Hepburn's clothes and hair styles and the like. Hepburn and Finney have great chemistry (there were rumors of an affair and it was true her marriage broke up around a year later, so who knows?) There are great bits by Eleanor Bron and William Daniels as buffoonic American tourists, wonderful locales, great scenery, Henry Mancini music. What more could you ask for? Hepburn in particular is a revelation in this. She never had a more complex role (before or since) and gives what is perhaps her career peak performance. (One wonders what roles she could have played had she not retired soon after this movie came out. She was certainly capable of more than Hollywood demanded of her. What a waste!). She swears (charmingly); commits adultery, even has several semi-nude scenes! She has never looked more beautiful on the screen. This movie is a class act all the way. The kind of sophisticated romance that Hollywood, sadly, doesnt make anymore. (Come to think of it, the genre began to disappear after Hepburn stopped making films...). From Stanley Donen's direction, the wonderfully witty script and editing (characters start a sentence in one time period and end it in another; pass each other on the road...);the gorgeous photography and scenery; Henry Mancini's score (perhaps his best). Its amazing that only the script was nominated for an Oscar (and lost to Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, if you can believe that!) Hepburn was nominated that year but for the far inferior film, Wait Until Dark. This is one of the best and best loved movies from the 60's. Join the cult! Buy it for someone you love! More important SEE it with someone you love! I guarantee its one movie you'll want to watch over and over. A wonderful Christmas gift too!

A unique film that I've seen many times for several different reasons. I'm aware of its flaws, but it remains special because of the story it tells and the abilities of the those involved in making it. Audrey Hepburn made a number of good films but this one and "Roman Holiday" (her first) are my favorites. Albert Finney's work here is equalled only by his work in "Tom Jones" (early is his career.) Stanley Donen's "Singing in the Rain" is one of the best musicals ever made, but "Two for the Road" is a unique dramatic comedy.

To those who suggest this film is mainly a Vogue fashion show, I reply, "You must be remembering other films Audrey made--like the overrated 'Funny Face'." To those who suggest the film is hard to follow, I say, "If you pay attention to the vehicles the main characters are traveling in, the clothes they both are wearing, and what they are saying, you won't be confused by the shifts backward and forward in time." I've worked with a lot of high school students who had no problems following the story because they quickly recognized these clues. In fact, one of the reasons the film is enjoyable is because those time shifts make it easier to explore the main characters' relationship."

I'm sorry "Two for the Road" rarely appears on TV while some of Audrey's lesser works often do and that "Two for the Road" hasn't made it to DVD. Those who enjoy good films should be given more opportunities to see it.

A brilliant, funny, sad and true screenplay is the basis for this, one of the great films of the late 1960's. Director Stanley Donen who is blessed with wit and talent has headed such films as "Singing In The Rain", "Funny Face", and "Charade". Here he has assembled a marvelous cast in one of his finest efforts. It is one of his cleverest works that interlaces the past, present and future in one beautifully realized stream of consciousness in the now.

One of the standout supporting performers is Eleanor Bron an accomplished British actress whom American audiences may remember as Patsy's mother from "Absolutely Fabulous". She is incredible with her very Bryn Mawr accent as one half of a parent team who is completely run by her bratty demanding child. She is just a joy to watch as the uncomfortable comedy unfolds.

Albert Finney is fine in the demanding role of Mark Wallace, a young reluctant to marry fellow who at first prefers Jacqueline Bisset's more voluptuous charms to the more sophisticated allure of Audrey Hepburn. He hits all the right notes from early romance to bored married man.

In this film we are given perhaps the finest of Audrey Hepburn's film performances. She is allowed to go to places in her character that few of her earlier films permitted. In the hands of a brilliant man like Donen she is an unfolding revelation of star power, talent and beauty. It is interesting to note that this is one of the few films in which Hubert De Givenchy did not dress her. Donen wanted a more realistic woman of her means and place. But even in off the rack clothes she looks incredible.

Of course a great film always begins with a great screenplay and in "Two For The Road" we have a wonderful example of screenwriting by Fredric Raphael. I am especially fond of his sharp and still fresh use of time bending. Note how the Mark and Joanna of the late 60's pass the Mark and Joanna of the late 50's on the road. This writer takes us on a wonderful and insightful look into a marriage and what it takes to make it work.

Cinematography by Christopher Challis is so crisp that it seems to have been shot only last week. Filled with the glorious panorama of France on the road, this is an utterly gorgeous film to watch.

Also contributing to the film is composer Henry Mancini who with his haunting and evocative score brings so much to the feel and pace of the story. This is one of his best scores in a career filled with great music.

Ultimately with all the wonderful contributions by all the artists and players one must tip one's hat to the genius behind it all, a great director and a fine artist in every sense, Stanley Donen. A real treat in this DVD of the Twentieth Century Fox Film Classics series is the addition of Mr. Donen's witty and delightful reminiscences of the making of the film on the director's commentary track. Like is commentary on the Criterion Collection of "Charade" Mr. Donen is just a joy to listen to. It is as if he has just dropped by to watch the film with you and in so doing he reveals himself to be nothing more than a charming man full of great stories to tell.

As one reviewer mention "If you want to see a blast from the past" This is the One ! . Mark (Albert Finney 1936- ) and Joanna (Audrey Hepburn 1929-1993) have a kind of marriage where barbs and insult mean more to them than all the endearments ever spoken . During a present day trip to the South of France , they remember other European jaunts they made . On their experience anew first glowe of pasion , the aching loneliness of being apart , the elation of cresting a hill at sunrise , the joy of making up after a fight , and ultimately they eatablish what it mean to them to be a couple . Yes in this movie its a lot of talking , but in beautiful French country side , not much of studio shoting here . For those nostalgic dreamers this is a good movie ! . High Quality transfer and by me higly recommended

While Audrey Hepburn gets almost the credit she deserves, Albert Finney and directory Stanely Donen are virtualy ignored by today's public. This movie is an excellent representation of their talents. Donen's movies are very well remember (think "Funny Face" or Fred Astaire dancing on the ceiling in "Royal Wedding" or Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in the chase scene from "Charade") but his best movie, "Two for the Road" was very much ahead of it's time. This is not your typical Hepburn movie- it's not light or comedic ("Sabrina" "Roman Holiday" "Funny Face") nor is it very dramatic ("Wait Until Dark" "The Nun's Story"), but a great balance of both. Witty and charming. One of my favorite movies of all time.

This is one of the few Audrey Hepburn movies that I had not watched in its entirety, and I am glad that I waited till this point in my life to do so, after having lived longer and had some experience in life and love. I found this movie to be both sad and hopeful, and I shed many tears thinking of how we love someone but that love is not always appreciated, reciprocated or deserved. The character of Joanna is winsome and one would probably side with her, but one still sees the attraction in Mark and how she could stay with him despite everything. When it seems that there is no hope for the marriage, you also find that the history of this couple gives them reason to stay together. One part of this movie I found so interesting is the technique where they pass each other along the same roads or cross paths with themselves from an earlier/later time. It was also interesting to see how a location that was loaded with sentiment could be turned into the worst spot on earth. So, the viewer as well as Mark and Joanna must find that love has to be rooted within and not depend on time or place.
If you love Europe and travel, you will love the scenery and backstory. If you have ever loved someone and there have been rocks along your road, this is for you, as well.