The Four Seasons alternately tries too hard to be a Woody Allen film and too hard to be an animated and witty stage play. In Alan Alda's trite effort to be offhand and witty with his dialogue, character-driven story, and surprisingly occasional attempts at humor, he conversely succeeds in creating a film that is so contrived that the dialogue is laughably scripted and produced through lots of pacing around trying to spice up each line, and each humorous moment is more irksomely awkward than funny.There is one funny moment, and that's when Jack Weston finally gets fed up with Rita Moreno's constant proclamations of being Italian, even though it's overacted and overdirected.The acting is fine, because the cast is exceptional. It's a joy to see the hilarious Carol Burnett in a movie. However, their performances applied to such an unnatural and manufactured script just makes it even gawkier and tonally tainted.Alan Alda, though I've always enjoyed him as an actor, has disappointed me greatly by indulging so heavily in trying make something like something else the way someone else has already done it.

ALAN ALDA has sharpened the humor and tense situations that occur when three middle-aged couples decide to take vacations together through the four seasons, with some unexpected results. Most of the mishaps are on the funny side and there's a lot of wisecracking between the couples, some of which sounds an awful lot like TV situation stuff. CAROL BURNETT scores nicely as Alda's wife, adept as he is with one-liners.But it's all done in a light-hearted way with the seasons bridged nicely by some transitional Vivaldi music. The story is how one couple (LEN CARIOU and SANDY DENNIS) is marked for divorce, which sets up the theme of antagonism toward the new woman entering the friendship circle and being mistreated out of spite. The new woman is played well by BESS ARMSTRONG and stand-outs among the other couples are RITA MORENO and JACK WESTON, as a bickering couple in the mold of Fred and Ethel Mertz.The seasons are beautifully photographed and the tightly knit story structure makes the whole thing a pleasure to watch. Written and directed by Alan Alda, it's certainly a feather in his cap.

This is probably one of my favorite films of the '80's. I watch it every time it comes on t.v. and I did see it when it came out originally. I relate to the characters in the movie and see them in friends and acquaintances every day. The comedy is excellent both in the delivery and response. If I feel down or depressed about something, I can feel better just by watching this movie. It makes me laugh and I think this is the main reason for the movie in the first place. I believe in laughter being a positive influence and Carol Burnett is second only to Lucille Ball in making one laugh! Alan Alda is a perfect match to Carol and with the support of Rita Moreno's constant ethnic expletives you have good reactions between all the characters.

Another film I never get tired of re-watching, THE FOUR SEASONS is an entertaining, albeit predictable comedy-drama about three affluent couples who vacation together, whose perfect circle of friendship is forever altered when one couple decides to divorce and the man tries to bring his new girlfriend into the circle. There is a lot of funny stuff that goes on here and a lot of unpleasant stuff as well, especially the way the circle treats the new girlfriend, but most of it rings true and the emotions expressed among these friends about losing the wife who was rejected for a younger woman, are quite real. My only problem with this film is that all the characters talk like Alan Alda. Yes, Alda wrote and directed the film, but he should have given the characters their own personalities, not his. Alda and Carol Burnett make a very believable long-married couple, Jack and Kate as do Jack Weston and Rita Moreno as Danny and Claudia. Len Cariou makes the most of an unpleasant role as Nick, the husband who divorces his wife (Sandy Dennis, in a lovely and heartbreaking performance)and tries to bring his new girlfriend (Bess Armstrong) into the circle. There is slapstick and sentiment and pathos and I have to admit to cheering the first time I saw the scene where Armstrong tells the group off for treating her like an outsider. It's not Chekhov, but it is a charming film with likable characters, realistic situations, beautiful scenery and a lovely musical score. If you hate Alan Alda, beware.