Donne

I watched this movie decades ago in the USA and now it's no where to be found. This is a really good movie, and Lee Remick is excellent in it. I remember when the book came out I think it was in the 1970s and I was in high school and everybody had that book. It had to be a best seller. The movie is so true to life. I wonder now why this movie appears to have been taken off the market? It is no where to be found, and I've been searching for this movie for years.

Satisfactory adaptation of the Marilyn French bestseller. Lee Remick is Myra, a thirtyish housewife who decides to abandon her cheating husband (a pre-Cheers Ted Danson) and dull suburban lifestyle, and return to graduate school. There, she becomes involved in the burgeoning women's movement and eventually finds sexual fulfillment in the arms of a younger man (Gregory Harrison). As Remick's character develops from a naive, sheltered young bride to an aware, independent woman, the viewer is introduced to two sets of female characters (Patty Duke, Tyne Daly and Kathryn Harrold are her suburban friends, all trapped in unhappy marriages, and Colleen Dewhurst, Tovah Felshuh, Lisa Pelikan and Mare Winningham are her graduate school associates) who, through their own experiences, help to shape and inform Myra's self-identity. Ultimately, Remick concludes that her happiness need not be dependent on any man. While I wouldn't characterize the film as "man-hating", as other on-line comments have suggested, it very definitely has a feminist sensibility. The acting is generally quite fine. Remick offers her usual capable performance, Dewhurst excels as her sexually frank, liberated friend and Winningham is very good as Dewhurst's neglected daughter. Patty Duke, while often compelling, is occasionally over the top as Remick's emotionally unstable friend; Tyne Daly manages a similar role with far more subtlety.

This miniseries bought a change in my life. I grabbed for the book, which is even more involved and recognized the life I had chosen at the age of 20. I recognized so many women I knew and my stand out performer is Colleen Dewhurst. Lee is perfect in the lead and Patty Duke is just brilliant as the woman who totally loses everything. I would love to get my hands on a copy of the DVD. I had my daughters' read the novel, which they totally got.

For anyone who was raised in the 40's to the 60's it will bring back memories good and bad. There is a thread of too much feminism but this can be overlooked for what the story is really telling us about a moth meta morphing into a butterfly.

This movie was shown last week on Irish tv.The acting and script were outstanding.It was obviously written straight from the heart.Lee Remick wouldn't have known how to give a bad performance,but in this she really excels.As a male I found the film to be in no way man hating.Take no notice of the first reviewer. The romantic teaming of Colleen Dewhurst and Dynasty's Al Corley was certainly bizarre.He looked more like her grandson!!.I hope more people get to see this film.

If your idea of a good time is to watch a movie about a group of women p***ing and moaning about men, this is your film. One of their complaints is that men simply cannot aim properly in the bathroom.