Un amour impossible

I think this is a very sensitive performance by Natalie Wood. She had any great roles but this one showed a depth of character not seen in her larger studio films. I enjoyed it very much and encourage those sho have doubts to watch it through to the end.

Over the years I missed this TV Film and was completely surprised by the great performance of Natalie Wood,(Courtney Patterson),"Meteor",'79, a cripple who was taken advantage of by Robert Wagner (Marcus Simon),"El Padrino,'03. Marcus Simon fell madly in love with Courtney and drove Courtney crazy until she finally paid attention to him and went to bed with him. Marcus should never have started a romance with Courtney, because he was only going to Break Her Heart. The acting between Marcus & Courtney was fantastic and at times made you very angry at Marcus for having started this entire "AFFAIR". Bruce Davison,(Jamie Patterson), Courtney's brother tells her, "At least someone loved you in this world" and it was good you got to see what the REAL WORLD IS ALL ABOUT" ! Natlie Wood & Robert Wagner were married for the second time during this film and they were really a match made in Heaven! Natlie is greatly missed!

THE AFFAIR is a very bad TV movie from the 1970s starring the then-husband-wife team of Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood as hesitant lovers. She has polio and leads a reclusive existence as a pop song writer. He's an ambitious lawyer who is very outgoing and absolutely smitten with her. Their affair, such as it is, is doomed from the start, and she knows it, but goes along with it anyway. Two things to watch for if you are trapped into watching this: Wood's Jane Fonda hairdo that is never mussed, no matter what, and a tune she sings early in this dreadful flick. She sings it for four or five or six minutes, so you know it's classic padding between commercials. It also is one of the worst songs ever written, and the woman doing Wood's singing voice should have been shot and put out of her misery. Also, keep an eye out for all the peasant tops and dresses. By comparison, Wagner looks relatively timeless, with close-cropped hair and sporting a series of classic suits.

Ordinary TV movie that would be forgotten entirely if not for the costarring of the lead pair who had just reunited years after the end of their first storybook marriage. The film is assuredly beneath Natalie but right in Wagner's ballpark, she did it so they could work together and his feature film career was over. He offers a surface performance, she a good one although she may look the worst on screen that she ever has. Expecting during production, the baby-a daughter was named Courtney after her character, she looks bloated with a very unflattering hairdo. Still her movie star charisma shines though making this gruel better than it would have been.

It's difficult to know who to blame for this dreary presentation. Even the best actors are disadvantaged with a poor script and I have to say that the script has to share some of the blame for this uninteresting piece of entertainment. A few times voices are raised in heated argument but on the whole the dialogue drifts along slowly and hesitantly as each character timidly explores the possibility of an affair. Natalie Wood as Courtney does well enough as the polio victim but her scenes with Marcus (Robert Wagner)were dull and vague and I felt little sympathy for either of the characters. It is true that Courtney confined herself to her own little world and was afraid to step outside of it and let some sparks fly. Some tighter direction might have helped too with Courtney delivering a greater feeling of her frustration. For me the projection of the feelings of the characters was missing. There was little drama to speak of.

So don't waste your time on this one. There are plenty of good dramas around