O Último Casal Casado

See "The Last Married Couple in America" with "Serial" (released around the same time...) and you get a good idea of what ideas were floating around during the late 70s and early 80s.

Though both films are not very good and they are horribly dated (in a fun way) they reflect a post 60s hangover attitude that's interesting in light of what occurred in 1980 with the election of Ronald Reagan.

Many thought that the 60s was going to usher in a whole new perspective and enlightenment to the masses. The use of drugs and free love was supposed to push all people's barriers down and out and a new world was to be created. Most people may not have completely shared in that feeling but there was a strong feeling of new and better things were going to happen.

But of course it didn't. People were burned out in the 70s and reality settled in: drugs, free love...it didn't change much at all. And in some cases, it made things worse by making it all so confusing. People who thought that the 60s were going to make everything better were disillusioned to find that nothing fundamental had really changed at all.

That's where "The Last Married Couple in America" and "Serial" take their cues. Both movies start off by trying to be "risky", "edgy" and "daring" by using a lot of four letter words and pseudo-risqué sex scenes (all pretty conventional, actually). The jokes are just sitcom material spiced up with "naughty" words.

In the end, both movies end with a very comfortable reaffirmation of the family/marriage unit and a rejection of the sexual revolution.

OK...so there might be some ripe material made out of this. But neither of these two is it, especially "The Last Married Couple in America". It's another one of those lame 70s comedies like "Silver Bears" with Cybil Shepherd. These are the types of films that even when they were released, I couldn't figure out who would pay money to see them.

George Segal and Natalie Wood portray an upper-class married couple in Los Angeles who find they are the last of a dying breed: all the men and women within their circle of friends are separated from their spouses, divorced, or on the make. Occasionally smart and amusing screenplay by John Herman Shaner doesn't take a righteous stand on the sexy goings-on, though Shaner is quick to point out the pitfalls of the swinging middle-ager (impotency, venereal disease, unfulfilled coupling). Gilbert Cates directs it like an R-rated TV show, though some of the intended bite (laced with grown-up, witty humor) manages to come through, and the cast is good--however less of hammy Dom DeLuise would have been an improvement. Wood, in particular, shows a great deal of growth since her not-dissimilar dalliance with sexual inhibitions in 1969's "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice"; she's surprisingly loose and physical here, and works comfortably with Segal, though George himself is rather wrung-out. With the sexual revolution of the 1970s fading fast upon its release, the film didn't stand a chance at the box-office, but parts of it are very funny and trenchant and have held up well. ** from ****

Natalie Wood was best known for her childhood role in "Miracle on 34th Street". And don't forget the sexual revolution film, "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice". I'm this film it is quite similar, only with morals to back it up. George Segal and Natalie Wood play Jeff and Mari Thompson, a married couple with three boys. They have friends who are married. Then suddenly, each one they knew have separated or divorced. And they began to question their own relationship. Their marriage is tested when Maria's friend Barbara(Valerie Harper) comes into town, and hits on Jeff. Knowing to be very faithful to his wife, he would brush her off. Until one night, he did the deed. After getting a STD, Mari decided to do the same. The only thing they could get back together is with a friend's birthday party. This movie has got a great cast and great scenes. Dom Deluise was great. And I couldn't picture Valerie Harper as a blonde. She did look great though. And my favorite scene was the birthday surprises. Taking Jeff to his hangout, and flashing him when he was unaware of the fur coat suspicion. It's a very good movie, I enjoyed every moment of it. 3.5 out of 5 stars

One of the most underrated movies of late seventies.Good direction by Gilbert Cates in a witty screenplay the players are excellent.The chemistry between Wood and Segal are a gift from heaven.The scenes between the main characters are touching.The supporting players are nice too specially Dom DeLuise and Marilyn Sokol.A movie to be discover.

"The Last Married Couple In America" is a misfire, and a waste of a perfectly good cast. In fact, the great chemistry between George Segal and Natalie Wood is the only thing that forces me to give this movie a ** rating, instead of the more appropriate *1/2. But to be a movie exclusively about marriage and not to be able to present even one meaningful insight into the subject in more than 100 minutes is quite a feat, indeed!