A Change of Seasons

This film was well written by Erich Segal of Love Story fame and by the producer, Martin Ransohoff. It is a comedic farce, but it is also touching and poignant and the characters are all quite likable and well developed. One reviewer didn't see the point to it all, but the point was that life does not end with marriage and middle age. We all have our temptations and we do the best we can with the complexities that confront us. No character in this film meant harm to any other and the result of each person's actions were not to be tidied up with easy answers. The consequences of the decisions made by the husband, the wife, the husbands girlfriend, the wife's boyfriend, and the girlfriend's father were left for us to ponder. Only the daughter, with the idealism of youth, could blissfully move on without considering what bends in the road she might face in her future. Anthony Hopkins, Shirley MacLane and the other cast members do a fine job with the material. I liked it very much and strongly recommend it.

A middle-aged husband (Anthony Hopkins) falls for a beautiful young woman (Bo Derek). His wife (Shirley MacLaine) starts her own affair in retaliation.

I caught this in a theatre in Massachusetts in 1980. It was filmed on location around there and I was curious to see how the state looked on the big screen. There was a bit of controversy while the film was being shot here--Hopkins HATED working with Derek because she refused to rehearse. He threatened to quit more than once. After seeing the film I wish he had quit! The script is by the numbers and not even remotely funny (this was supposed to be a romantic comedy). MacLaine and Hopkins do their best with the material but not even their considerable acting talents can save this. Every single event was predictable and boring. Also Derek's complete lack of acting talent is almost painful to watch. I don't care how beautiful she is--the woman just can't act! Hopkins hatred for her comes through loud and clear.

This did nothing for the stars careers. Derek already had "10" out and Hopkins had "The Elephant Man" but MacLaine did this and another dreadful "comedy" called "Loving Couples" at the same time. She did point out in her book that they were both awful and almost ruined her career. Good thing she did "Terms of Endearment" a few years later.

I had blocked this movie out completely but I saw a bit of it on TV recently and all the bad memories came rolling back. Also if you're just watching this to see Derek nude it happens during the opening credits and that's about it. A really bad film--1 all the way.

Complications ensue when a married couple vacation as a foursome with their respective extramarital lovers in this odd comedy-drama starring Anthony Hopkins and Shirley MacLaine. The film bares striking similarities to fellow 1980 MacLaine movie 'Loving Couples', but this effort is balanced more in favour of drama than comedy (not necessarily a better thing). The way the plot develops almost defies credibility with university professor Hopkins nonchalantly confessing an affair with a student, played by Bo Derek, to his wife. He is then absolutely staggered to learn that she does not approve. Then, rather than get angry, MacLaine gets revenge by taking her own lover in the form of an intruder, and to top it all off, Hopkins is utterly insulted by his wife's infidelity! The film holds little of interest as a tale of Hopkins realising his own double standards and as a story of MacLaine asserting herself. The runtime is also noticeably beefed up by several picturesque but pointless ski montages. Things do improve though after the one-hour mark as the couple's daughter visits their holiday home, only to be amazed, startled and disgusted by her parents' adulterous living arrangements. Edward Winter also makes a hilarious brief appearance as Derek's very conservative father. He steals every scene that he is in simply by reacting so normally to everyone else's abnormal behaviour. Overall though, this is hard film to enthusiastically recommend even with a stronger second half, but it is no better or worse than 'Loving Couples' if that is a yardstick to measure by.

How can two future Oscar winners star in a movie and have zero chemistry? Try a hackneyed plot, pedestrian direction with self-important pretentious, a grandiose score, and pointless dialogue. The cinematography is excellent, though, and the supporting cast, especially TV-veteran Edward Winter (best performance in film) is surprisingly robust, considering the material (EXCEPT Bo Derek, or course, whose notoriety from 10 is one of the reasons this was rushed to the big screen prematurely.

Great "find" in video stores boasts a really good script regarding the sexual strayings of a mid-life couple. Anthony Hopkins plays the philandering husband (Bo Derek the young hot tart) and Shirley MacLaine plays the wife who takes up with a lover of her own. This topic is now "hot" again what with Oscar winner "American Beauty" not to mention the whole Monica-Clinton affair. Don't let Bo Derek's name keep you from watching this film (and why should it when Anthony Hopkins and Shirley MacLaine are the leads?) Bo does the "Bo" thing early on (in a hot tub no less) so this film really does offer the best of all worlds. Should be watched with another Shirley MacLaine movie with a very similar plot that was released the same year (1980) called "Loving Couples" (with James Coburn the philandering husband and a young Susan Sarandon the young hot tart). They were released between "Being There" (1979) and "Terms of Endearment" (1983) so if you are wondering what Shirley MacLaine did between her two very different roles in those films here's your answer. Shirley is charming. Great entertainment.