LOVE AFFAIR
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1994 James Berardinelli
Status: O
Rating (0 to 10): 6.9
Date Released: 10/21/94 Running Length: 1:47 Rated: PG-13 (Mature themes, language)
Starring: Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Gary Shandling, Pierce Brosnan, Kate Capshaw, Chloe Webb, Katherine Hepburn Director: Glenn Gordon Caron Producer: Warren Beatty Screenplay: Robert Towne & Warren Beatty based on the 1939 motion picture LOVE AFFAIR, screenplay by Delmer Daves and Donald Ogden Stewart, story by Mildred Cram and Leo McCarey Cinematography: Conrad L. Hall Music: Ennio Morricone Released by Warner Brothers
Warren Beatty's LOVE AFFAIR is the third incarnation of the tear- jerker that SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE named as the prototypical "woman's movie." Originated in 1939 under the direction of Leo McCarey, LOVE AFFAIR starred Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne as the playboy and playgirl couple who meet and fall in love on a transatlantic voyage. Eighteen years later, McCarey lengthened his script, added considerable humor, and brought to the screen AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. Now, Beatty has taken this story and adapted it for today's audience.
Actually, the only switch from the Fifties to the Nineties is a rather unconvincing plot contrivance to get Mike Gambril (Beatty) and Terry McKay (Annette Bening) off the Los Angeles-to-Sydney flight on which they meet and onto a boat. The plane experiences engine trouble and has to make a forced landing on a small Pacific island. Since no other aircraft can land on the small runway, the passengers are transported away by ship. While sailing to Tahiti, Mike and Terry fall in love. Some days later, once they reach New York, they agree to wait three months (to relieve themselves of unwanted fiancees and get their lives in order), then meet atop the Empire State Building. What happens is a matter of record, especially for those who have seen SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE, but I won't spoil it here.
One curiosity is that in all three versions of this story, the man has had a different name. For whatever reason, his opposite has remained Terry McKay (although, admittedly, it would be hard to imagine Warren Beatty going by the name of Cary Grant's Nickie Ferrante). Her name, however, is not the only thing to stay the same.
While the first half of LOVE AFFAIR remains true in spirit and general storyline to AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, the second half (beginning with the Empire State Building sequence) is almost identical, with much of the same dialogue being used. The setting may be modern, but the style and feel are lifted right out of the romances of the fifties.
Leo McCarey has said that one of his reasons for casting Grant and Kerr for AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER is that he wanted to heighten the comedy. In the new version, Beatty and Bening bring a certain playfulness to their roles, but the humor has been toned down. This has the unfortunate effect of turning LOVE AFFAIR into an occasionally-overwrought melodrama. It's not as manipulative as it could be, but teary eyes in the audience shouldn't surprise anyone.
Beatty, despite an undeniable screen presence, is rather flat in the role of the aging ex-quarterback. Compared to Grant, he exudes little charisma. Beatty's co-star and wife, Annette Bening, on the other hand, shines, constantly eclipsing her spouse. Not only does she have the vivaciousness and sparkle of Kerr, but an almost-eerie similarity in appearance.
I'm not sure that women will universally like this film better than men, but romantics will certainly appreciate it more than cynics. It is an unabashed love story, filled more with romance than sex, and concerned with character interaction over plot. My main complaint with the film is that it's not sufficiently different from its predecessor to warrant the remake. AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER may be thirty-seven years old, but it still stands up well. With so few changes, this makes 1994's LOVE AFFAIR redundant. Charming, but redundant.
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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