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.

Middle-aged college professor Adam Evans (superbly played by Anthony Hopkins) has an extramarital fling with lovely, innocent coed Lindsey Rutledge (a winning performance by the delectable Bo Derek). Meanwhile, Adam's spunky wife Karyn (a marvelously sassy and spirited Shirley MacLaine) gets involved with kind, hunky young carpenter Peter Lachapelle (affable Michael Brandon). Complications ensue when Adam and Karyn decide to spend a vacation at a posh country home with their two respective lovers in tow. Director Richard Lang, working from a witty and perceptive script by Erich Segal, Ronni Kern and Fred Segal, maintains a warm, gentle tone throughout and coaxes fine acting from a bright and personable cast. Hopkins and MacLaine are terrific in the leads, with fine support from Derek, Brandon, Mary Beth Hurt as the Adams' fiery daughter Kasey, Edward Winter as Lindsey's hearty, tolerant father Steven, Paul Regina as Kasey's wacky fiancé Paul Di Lisa, and K Callan as Karyn's supportive friend Alice Bingham. Moreover, the characters are refreshingly complex and genuinely engaging, with MacLaine as Karyn in particular qualifying as the definite stand-out. Derek's slow motion tryst with Hopkins in a hot tub rates as a definite memorably steamy moment. Philip Lathrop's glossy cinematography, Henry Mancini's bouncy, melodic score, and the catchy, folksy theme song "Where Do You Catch the Bus for Tomorrow?" are all up to par as well. An amusingly quirky and occasionally quite touching delight.

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 ****

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.