I suppose it happens between 1936 (the beginning of the Spanish war) and 1947 (Hollywood 10) when she was pregnant, and then the last scene, which supposedly happens a couple of years after their divorce, so, about 1950? No dates are given, and it's impossible to date it by the clothes (by which one would say it all happens 1973) or any other details. So... this is supposedly a "great love story", and several times it is pointed out how Katie "never gives up":Hubbell: "You never give up, do you?" Katie: "Only when I'm absolutely forced to."Yet they marriage didn't last 3 years. We really don't know when they got married, but they met again 1945 and started their relationship there, and she got pregnant 1947, and they got divorced when the baby was born. She basically hated everything about him, his friends, things he found interesting, what he wanted with his life. She claimed to be supportive, but all she wanted to support him to do was what SHE wanted him to do. The only thing she compromised was to move to Hollywood with him, but she claimed to be ready to give up everything just to have him in her life... and he said she didn't need to. After all, he fell in love with Katie from College. He loved her. And she continued with everything she thought was important, even protested against the McCarthy crap. But she... she was like a starstruck bitch who just wanted to have everything her way and whined when she didn't get it. I really dislike her. And a romantic movie when you dislike the heroine? Not good. She had it all and was a spoiled bitch so she threw it all away. It wasn't even that she lost it, she threw it away. He loved her as she was, but she didn't love him as he was, and he didn't change fast enough.The "touching" end scene... nothing touching about that. Not one tear was dropped during watching of this movie. The most touching scene was the night after she picked him up from the bar. "Hubbell, it's Katie. You did know it was Katie". The movie is slow and boring... Uh. Two hours of pain. I suppose it has filmographic good sides, I mean, the music is amazing, the filming is nice... acting is good, I suppose... costuming is crap, editing is crap, script is... well. I suppose it's not that bad, because it is believable, but I hate her and it's not a love story, so... Frankly, the only reason to see this movie is for Robert Redford and he has done dozens of better movies. Just see "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "The Sting".

You can't force romance to blossom, to grow, to continue. What you can do is reflect on the mistakes to grow from them, remain true to yourself even while thoroughly and totally in love, and by all means, remember the laughter. For those of us who have tried but failed in love, it is those moments that with luck will prevent the bitterness from taking over and if the two people are mature enough to be in the same room years later without regret, they may even be able to smile at each other and thank them for the memories.The theme song from this romantic drama says it all as political activist Barbra Streisand falls head over heals with the perfect smiling toothy Robert Redford. She allows her love for him to consume her, pleading with him to see how perfect she is for him, while he demands space. A previous meeting had him basically ravaging her while in a drunken stupor has her allowing the liaison even though he doesn't know that it's her. Streisand really lets loose with the strengths, the insecurities, the demands, and of course, the finger nails. She leads Redford around by the nose for a short time, but is perhaps too out of his league, too needy yet too intense. She tries to fit in his world, but it only makes her more demanding. Yet, she's not a nasty person, and no matter how hard she tries to tone it down, can't betray who she is inside.Redford gives his all to keep up with Barbra, but in the long run, the passion she gives to this project makes her the driving force behind its success and legendary status. Even with a cast of veteran actors of stage, screen and TV, there's just no time for any of them to get their fingers into the bowl. A young James Woods does show promise as Barbra's constant companion in the beginning of the film. This is Barbra's film all the way, and love her or hate her, you can't help but admire her tenaciousness. The script by Arthur Laurents and direction by Sydney Pollack are pieces of wood glued onto Barbra's deep thought into her characterization, so the puzzles of who she is come together. This maintains one of the best finales in film made within my lifetime, and one that is heartbreaking as well as touching.

The Way We Were (1973): Dir: Sydney Pollack / Cast: Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford, Bradford Dillman, Lois Chiles, Patrick O'Neal: An opposites attract romance where the male cannot commit himself yet he can sleep with the woman in question. Romance reflecting upon nicer times that grow into loveless empty worlds. Barbra Streisand plays a political activist and Robert Redford plays a Hollywood screenwriter whom she knew long ago. They get reacquainted and romance blooms but they share different views on political issues. Directed with insight by Sydney Pollack who previously made Jeremiah Johnson and They Shoot Horses Don't They? While his talent brings out the theme, the screenplay blemishes the theme with its formula driven romantic drivel. Streisand plays her role with zest and intelligence but when she becomes pregnant Redford is unable to be there thus concluding upon bypassed responsibility. Redford is a fine actor but here he plays a guy who is unlikable and unsympathetic. Supporting roles are also flat with Bradford Dillman and Lois Chiles among others basically filling space. This film isn't very romantic by any means but it does feature the inspiring vocals of Streisand within the film's signature song. Although its romantic themes diminish it does reflect upon missed opportunities and moving on with hidden regret. Score: 5 ½ / 10

At the dawn of the campus years, Hubbell Gardiner (Robert Redford) celebrates the first publication of one of his short stories; and Katie Morosky (Barbra Streisand) raises a toast "to his first novel". Meanwhile, he asks her why she didn't take with humor one joke made after a political speech, all she needed was to laugh at a rather benign prank and she would have won the audience. But Katie has no sense of humor whatsoever when it comes to politics and Gardiner hardly believes he can make it as a novelist. Here we are with flawed characters trying to inculcate the very value that lacks in the other: detachment and passion. And that kind of complementarity is the true basis of a realistic romance rather than a simple love at first sight or a hate-then-love formula, "The Way We Were", directed by Sidney Pollack in 1973, is above all these clichés.The scene I just described encapsulates the whole relationship between the Jewish, passionate and activist Katie Morosky and the classy, WASP and handsome Hubbell Gardiner. She believes in his talent, he's amazed by her passion, she's a burning fire that ignited his heart, and he embodies a sort of perfection only her eyes can value and cherish, and the way she tenderly caresses his hair is more eloquent than any description. The acting from the two leads makes the chemistry so real, so believable, that I even failed to see how the couple could be seen as 'unlikely', although the attraction between opposites is what drives the whole narrative, if not the romance. Granted Barbra Streisand is not the most attractive actress (though she has marvelous eyes, and fingernails that would turn on any fetishist) the film is definitely not about a sort of 'Beauty and the Beast' syndrome.I'm certain of this assessment even more because it's Katie who steals the show, she's the one who orchestrates the whole relationship and plays like a true mentor to Gardiner. And Redford finds the right note to play a character apparently dull, but in fact, only lacking the necessary amount of confidence because "everything went too easily for him". Gardiner is like the big and strong guy who was so physically impressive that he was never attacked and then could never develop self-defense mechanisms or brutality and could be dominated by smaller and weaker guys. Gardiner is blonde, good-looking, he's an accomplished athlete, and it was so easy for him to be popular that he didn't even need to build a character. He is a spineless guy and in contrast, Morosky dealt with adversity for so many years that, if not the 'Beast', she's the 'Ugly Duckling' who compensated through her courage, her ability to stand up for her ideals and transcended all her limitations.And what a character by the way, Barbra Streisand illuminates the screen with such an energy we can help but feel her enthusiasm and passion for Gardiner, but not without noticing how desperate it is. For she's the one who cares more for their relationships, and another aspect that confirms it is the whole political subtext that undermines the romance rather than accompany it. Gardiner and Morosky do complete each other but in the sense that one needs to be more passionate and gutsy, and the other more easy-going and cool, but the chemistry is always victim of political interferences. The film spans one decade but probably the richest of American history, it starts with the pre-War period when someone (Katie) could proclaim to be a Communist, to the War and it ends with the Cold War and first manifestations of McCarthysm, the era that would give a deathblow to their relationship. Yet the script isn't quite clear about the way the couple is threatened by the hearings, it widens the already existing gap between Gardiner and Morosky, as he believes that one shouldn't risk to lose everything for such abstractions as principles, people count more yet she believes that "People are their principles". The film features a lot of suffering, of misunderstandings, of failed attempts to change the person we love, to elevate him or her and in its own unique way. "The Way We Were" is the chronicle of a doomed relationship, and Pollack doesn't invite us to take side for one character, as each one is responsible for the marital failure. To a certain extent, the script remains true to a bittersweet quality of life, it doesn't even feature an obligatory 'I love you' line for that matter, and it manages to create situations we all can respond to. But now that I found out some scenes were cut out to relieve the film from its political material, I can't help but blame Pollack for having followed his audience' initial reaction (the issues are covered in the DVD features), because what's left is even more puzzling since we don't know why they broke up. We could see the rupture coming, but what was the defining moment that put an end to everything, remains unknown. And the film is too mature to get away with the excuse of infidelity; Morosky could have closed her eyes on that. At the end, "The Way We Were" isn't a perfect film, but it's still satisfactory, as if it was trusting the viewers not to focus on its rather anticlimactic ending, and just understand that the two leads had 'their' reasons to break up, and no matter what happens, they'll forever be the most important person of their respective lives.The movie is not without some flaws especially on the editing department, but it's kind of redeemed by the performances, the directing, a dazzling cinematography, and what's more, the sweet nostalgia induced by Marvin Hamlish's score, less emphatic than "Doctor Zhivago" or dramatic than "Love Story", it's tender enough to be listened to without distracting from the story.