L'amour à quatre mains

Married couple Shirley MacLaine and James Coburn are cheating on each other: she with younger man Stephen Collins; he with Collins' girlfriend, sassy Susan Sarandon. They all meet up--underwater at the pool!--while vacationing at a posh resort. Some fun ideas in this otherwise routine, mercilessly padded romantic comedy from screenwriter Martin Donovan that runs out of ideas awfully fast. A glut of these middle-age-crazy films flooded cinemas in 1979-1980, including "Serial" (both co-starring Sally Kellerman) and MacLaine's own "A Change of Seasons". Audiences weren't interested; it was a with-it movie genre that was without many patrons. *1/2 from ****

A trivial script, full of cliched dialogue and situations, is made endurable by appealing performances from the good cast. Susan Sarandon was already an outstanding actress by then, and the show is stolen by the sexy Sally Kellerman who plays a nymphomaniac. But overall, this very slight film isn't really worth your time. (**)

Everyone knows Shirley MacLaine can dance. So what happened? It's a very small part of the movie, but there's a scene where Shirley dances around to a "groovy tune" with her lover. Either she's absolutely clueless without a choreographer, or the choreographer wanted the audience to think she was completely unskilled. For me, that was the most memorable part of Loving Couples. The rest of it wasn't much better.

In the film, a middle-aged man leaves his wife for a younger woman. In response, his wife takes up with a younger man. Awkward situations, supposed jealousies, and incredibly unconvincing romances take up the screen for 90 minutes. Plus, it's pretty much the exact same plot as A Change of Seasons, also starring Shirley MacLaine, and also from 1980. Skip this one, even if you're a Shirley MacLaine or Susan Sarandon fan; it just isn't worth it.

I noticed that the summary for this film says 'hilarity ensues' and the film is billed as a comedy. However, if you watch the film without being told it's a comedy, you'll likely never know it, as it really isn't funny at all. Instead, it's a sad melodrama about two couples who find that they're looking for someone better...only to realize that happiness doesn't result from a new partner.

When the story begins, Dr. Evelyn Kirby (Shirley MacLaine) is seduced by a younger playboy, Greg (Stephen Collins). At first she's a bit apprehensive but then goes headlong into the affair. Soon Dr. Walter Kirby (James Coburn), Evelyn's husband, is approached by Greg's live-in girlfriend, Stephanie (Susan Sarandon), and she informs him of Greg's affair. Inexplicably, Stephanie and Walter begin an affair of their own.

The film has a decent message....that affairs don't solve a person's boredom and unhappiness. But the story itself if curiously uninvolving...possibly because I found it hard to really care about any of the people involved...they all just seemed amoral and sad. Not a bad movie but one I just found uninteresting.

I'm honestly surprised that this isn't one of Shirley's best loved movies. I gave this a ten because of how beautifully she aged and how HOT Stephen Collins was. He now plays the gushy Brady-bunch type dad on the show 7th Heaven but here he was gorgeous. Susan Sarandon and the guy who played Walter were also really good. :) This movie is average, but harmless. I agree with that. But it's good. You look at it and think "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!" When Susan Sarandon ends up sleeping with Walter and Shirley MacLaine ends up sleeping with Stephan. I mean there's at least a 20 year difference between both of those couples. Still, it was cute to say in the least. I loved it. 9 or 10.