Review of Same Time, Next Year

Introduction

Based on the stage play by Bernard Slade, who also wrote the screenplay for its film adaptation, `Same Time, Next Year` is about Doris and George (Ellen Burstyn and Alan Alda) who are the perfect couple - they enjoy each other`s company, can talk for hours and have great sex. They are also happily married, only not to each other. In 1951, when Doris was on her way to a retreat and George was out of town visiting a client, they meet in a motel, begin talking and one thing leads to another. It turns out that Doris goes to the retreat every year and stops off nearby and George does the books for his friend and stays for the weekend. Following a great night in bed and the frantic soul-searching of the morning after, they agree on a `same time, next year` basis and the film follows their relationship over the next twenty-six years.

The film shows six of their meetings, each one preceded by a montage of images showing the major cultural and political events of the intervening 5-year period, accompanied by "The Last Time I Felt Like This" by Johnny Mathis and Jane Olivor.

`Same Time, Next Year` was released on DVD in the US in April 2004, so why it`s taken nearly 4 years to release it in the UK and without the subtitles that the R1 release has, is a mystery.

Video

A clear 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer, with little in the way of detritus or softness - oddly, the US release is anamorphic 1.85:1, which, according to the IMDb is the OAR, so this may be cropped. The costumes and makeup are excellent and do a fine job of complementing the actors as they grow old from early twenties to middle-age.

Audio

A decent Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack - the film is entirely dialogue-driven, so there is no need for anything else. Marvin Hamlisch`s score is subtle yet memorable and, like "The Last Time I Felt Like This", was Oscar-nominated.

Features

Just the theatrical trailer.

Conclusion

Even if the credits had not told me that this was based on a stage play, I would have guessed that it was as the scope of the drama is small, largely taking place in the cabin with just a couple of short scenes set outside or in the motel restaurant. As there is nothing to distract from the interaction between George and Doris, the focus is entirely on the dialogue and its delivery by Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn (reprising the role she played on Broadway), who are both terrific and thoroughly believable.

Unless they are done very well, I don`t tend to enjoy romantic comedies - and this one is done well. The characterisation is superb and you really feel you get to know George and Doris, following them as they change: George from a neurotic accountant to a stuffy know-it-all and Doris from a naïve housewife to a hippy and then to a successful businesswoman. Just as they feel like they grow to know the other`s spouse, so do we and we become emotionally involved in not only their relationship, but also their family lives.

Normally I wouldn`t give this kind of film the time of day, but I`m glad I watched it and would recommend it, if it weren`t for the vanilla nature of the DVD. Perhaps a rental is the way to go?