Fergus
06-24-2002, 11:33 PM
Love Story
Director: Arthur Hiller
Cast: Ryan O'Neal, Ali McGraw, Ray Milland.
PG/1970/100 minutes
"Love Story" is the kind of film where everything is preconceived. You watch the opening of the film and you can predict all the kinds of cliched events that will eventually play out for the next hour and 40 minutes. This isn't a smart film. There are no twists. Its you're normal and every day love story without a good story. I think Paramount wanted to do a remake, and make big bucks off what worked for Claude Lelouch's Un Homme et Une Femme. It may not use the same exact storyline, Hiller's film is much more simplified. But, I'm a nice guy, so of course I bought it.
I enjoyed the film in its utter simplicity. O'Neal and McGraw have great chemistry together, and that is basically why the film worked. The script itself is better than, say, today's ordinary love stories. Some of the dialogue is trite, but the actors made it work. There isn't much credit I can give to the director. If he was creative at all, like Lelouch was, this film would be much more interesting, too bad Hiller's direction is merely mediocre. One thing though, that I did love about it was the occassional shot of beauty. Especially when they shot in the snow, they got some incredible shots. The score is set to various pieces of classical music which enhance the film a little, in its overall enjoyment. I especially love the reoccurring theme which is a beautiful piece of music. They don't over-indulge in the piece, but use it effectively in many scenes. Those scenes contain zero background music, and are set to either the theme or other pieces. There are also quite a few montages, which I didn't mind. I've always enjoyed the technique of expressing the mood with images instead words.
I can see why this film was such a tremendous box office success. It made somewhere over a hundred million at the box office. I'm thinking like 170 million, but I'm not exactly sure. But, anyway, the millions of dollars brought in is due to the appeal of the story. It is simple, and it gives the audience what they want. And for some reason, the weepy ending seemed almost like a gentle let down than shooting us in the foot. Its sad but the outcome is already mentioned in the beginning. And since Hiller knew he was going to do that, he ended the film the way it began which is in no way genius, but well handled. Overall, an enjoyable movie that women will want to watch over and over, but I thankfully, will only see this one once. Oh, and lets not forget the trite tagline to the movie:
"Love means never having to say you're sorry."
(*** 1/2) out of five or (7.5/10)
Director: Arthur Hiller
Cast: Ryan O'Neal, Ali McGraw, Ray Milland.
PG/1970/100 minutes
"Love Story" is the kind of film where everything is preconceived. You watch the opening of the film and you can predict all the kinds of cliched events that will eventually play out for the next hour and 40 minutes. This isn't a smart film. There are no twists. Its you're normal and every day love story without a good story. I think Paramount wanted to do a remake, and make big bucks off what worked for Claude Lelouch's Un Homme et Une Femme. It may not use the same exact storyline, Hiller's film is much more simplified. But, I'm a nice guy, so of course I bought it.
I enjoyed the film in its utter simplicity. O'Neal and McGraw have great chemistry together, and that is basically why the film worked. The script itself is better than, say, today's ordinary love stories. Some of the dialogue is trite, but the actors made it work. There isn't much credit I can give to the director. If he was creative at all, like Lelouch was, this film would be much more interesting, too bad Hiller's direction is merely mediocre. One thing though, that I did love about it was the occassional shot of beauty. Especially when they shot in the snow, they got some incredible shots. The score is set to various pieces of classical music which enhance the film a little, in its overall enjoyment. I especially love the reoccurring theme which is a beautiful piece of music. They don't over-indulge in the piece, but use it effectively in many scenes. Those scenes contain zero background music, and are set to either the theme or other pieces. There are also quite a few montages, which I didn't mind. I've always enjoyed the technique of expressing the mood with images instead words.
I can see why this film was such a tremendous box office success. It made somewhere over a hundred million at the box office. I'm thinking like 170 million, but I'm not exactly sure. But, anyway, the millions of dollars brought in is due to the appeal of the story. It is simple, and it gives the audience what they want. And for some reason, the weepy ending seemed almost like a gentle let down than shooting us in the foot. Its sad but the outcome is already mentioned in the beginning. And since Hiller knew he was going to do that, he ended the film the way it began which is in no way genius, but well handled. Overall, an enjoyable movie that women will want to watch over and over, but I thankfully, will only see this one once. Oh, and lets not forget the trite tagline to the movie:
"Love means never having to say you're sorry."
(*** 1/2) out of five or (7.5/10)