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Year: 1970
Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
A wealthy Harvard law student falls in love with a middle-class Radcliffe music major. Though his parents don't approve of their relationship, he gives up everything for this short-lived romance doomed to end in tragedy.
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| "Some day, you're going to have to come up with the courage to admit that you care." (Image Source) |
"Love Story" may be a bit sappy and have one of the most crock of shit lines in cinematic history, but we just can't help but enjoy it. This film is directed by Arthur Hiller, who is known for films like "The Hospital," "Silver Streak," and "See No Evil, Hear No Evil." It is written by Erich Segal, who has worked on such films as "A Change of Series" and "Yellow Submarine." This story revolves around two college students. Oliver Barrett (Ryan O'Neal) is an affluent legacy pre-law student at Harvard, and Jenny (Ali MacGraw) is a middle-class music major going to Radcliffe. The two meet one day, and after a bit of flirting and some playful jabs at each other, they begin to date and fall in love. Oliver's overbearing father (Ray Milland) doesn't approve of Jenny or their relationship, but Oliver pursues it anyway, giving up everything he would inherit for true love. Unfortunately, the couple soon faces an unexpected tragedy that may alter the course of their lives forever.
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| "I fail to see how marrying a brilliant Radcliffe girl constitutes rebellion." (Image Source) |
If someone set out to create the perfect formula for the perfect romantic tragedy, 1970's "Love Story" gets the equation just right. It has a good mix of humor combined with a star-crossed lovers plotline and a heartwrenching, tragic ending. Where "Love Story" really shines is in the chemistry between Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw, as well as the witty but sort of mean banter they deliver back and forth at one another. Jenny constantly roasts Oliver about his advantages in life while he complains about his rich white people problems. Do you know how hard it is to have a building named after your family at Harvard? Well, do you?!! The expectations are just too much to bear!! Oliver also rags on Jenny about being a snobby, uptight, semi-bitchy music major with no taste, but it's not as fun because she's a poor. Some aspects of this movie are pretty dated, though other elements are probably considered progressive for the time in which this story took place. Every time we watch this film, we root for the romance knowing it will end in tragedy..after all, this is the first thing Oliver tells us as it begins. It begs the question, was everything Oliver and Jenny sacrificed for a future together worth it knowing how it was going to end? We would have to say yes because, in the end, their story was about finding joy at that particular moment in time, something many strive to have but never obtain because they are too busy worrying about the future. This movie gets a lot right, but one thing it gets wrong is its famous (or infamous depending on which way it rubs you) line "love means never having to say you are sorry." That is such a crock of shit, and we have a hunch everyone who helped write this movie knew it, too.
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| "If this thing is real, it'll stand the test of time." (Image Source) |
This one major flaw aside, we still love "Love Story" because we believe in the power of, and this will shock you, ~*love.~* It is a pretty enjoyable (but also pretty dated) film, just don't use it to as an excuse for not apologizing to your loved ones. If you do something wrong, you most assuredly should say you're sorry, duh, that's how being human works, you dumb romance.
BigJ's Rating: 8/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.9/10
RT Rating: 63%
Do we recommend this movie: Yes!
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