Changement de saisons

"A Change of Seasons" is a film that makes polyamory seem fun and sophisticated. Call me old fashioned, and I really am, I can't relate to the plot...and that might explain why the reception to this film was cold, at best--with three Razzie Award nominations.

Shortly after the story begins, Karyn Evans (Shirley MacLaine) guesses that her husband, Adam (Anthony Hopkins), is having an affair with one of his college students (Bo Derek). But instead of being angry or hurt, Karyn gets herself a young stud of a boyfriend. And, to make things REALLY weird, the four of them go on a couples vacation together! Complications arise when the Evans' daughter shows up...and is naturally shocked by her parents' behavior.

I think how much you enjoy the film certainly will be affected by your views on polyamory and adultery. For me, it's not a funny topic and I found it hard to relate to the characters. Some might not feel this way and might enjoy the plot.

But for me, it wasn't just the story that left me flat. I rarely talk about this with any film, but the music in this movie was just godawful!! Every time the singing began, my skin crawled....it was THAT saccharine and awful. The music of the Carpenters was like acid rock compared to the stuff in "A Change of Seasons"

Overall, a couple good actors in a script that might have worked better had the film actually been a comedy. Some real laughs would have improved it...as well as ANY other soundtrack!

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.

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.

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.

Advertised as a wacky marital sex romp (with allusions to wife-swapping), this Erich Segal script surprises by being a mostly sobering look at a marriage between two middle-agers (Shirley MacLaine and Anthony Hopkins) which has faltered and can't really be rectified. Released alongside a spate of similar middle-age-crazy comedy-dramas (including MacLaine's "Loving Couples", which she made back-to-back with "Seasons"), this one has the added appeal of seeing serious-minded Hopkins romancing Bo Derek (fresh off her triumph in "10" and usually out of her clothes). The writing is often achingly 'cute', with hardly a wink to the audience to let us know co-writer Segal is in on the joke. However, the more thoughtful moments (integrated unobtrusively by director Richard Lang) offer some insight into what breaks up a marital union, and both MacLaine and Hopkins have strong scenes. ** from ****