Two for the road wasn't horrible, it just didn't hold my interest like other Hepburn movies. I did like this one scene though, I think it was when they were looking for the car key in the field, and joanne says "I want a child...I just don't want THAT child". But in my opinion, the rest of it was not memorable.
shareOh well, each to his or her own, de gustibus... and all that.
I just watched it again today (not having seen it for years) on a fuzzy videocassette taped from a 1986 TV transmission (complete with unedited-out commercial breaks!) and still managed to love every minute of it!
I hated the part where Mark made Joanna (Audrey) PUSH THE CAR when it would not start! I mean, ultra-slender, feminine, and IN HEELS Audrey pushing a vehicle until it STARTS!! Come on!
Oh, I don't know!
These small, feminine, wiry women are surprisingly sturdy and tough, I find.
That scene also illustrates (quite vividly) just how much effort Joanna is putting into her marriage.
MARK: What we need is a small push.
[deleted]
I'm glad someone else said it. It's hard to watch.
shareNot great but Hepburn and her wardrobe look fantastic as usual.
shareI dont know about everyone else but I was able to enjoy it. Not enjoy it in the sense "oh its becomes a happy ending" but in the sense of a well portrayed film. For a fair portion it was pretty depressing and Its not the feel-good high aura-ed movie you get from a number of Audrey Hepburn movies. Its quite dark and presents the realities of married life. What people go through, how fragile it could be. For its time it was pretty good.
It wasn't my favourite Hepburn movie, and thats ok, because I still liked it. And no Im not the type who likes every Hepburn movie.
I hope people didnt watch it and have the expectations it'd be like some of her other films. It was very different in that aspect.
I'm puzzled by all the love for this film because it's a trial to get through. If this had been a black comedy, it might have been more effective, but I couldn't buy the premise that these two genuinely loved each other.
shareThey did when they were newly married didnt they? Just like any newly wed couple
Being an American film I wouldnt really trust them with pulling off Black Comedy. However if it was a British film it would have been possible
Yes, they seemed very happy when they married, but it didn't last very long. I expected there to be some turnaround eventually in the film, but they just sank deeper and deeper in to the emotional mire of their marriage. I like dark subject matter, but this is a dark film trying to pass itself off as a romantic comedy. It doesn't have the depth of something like "Scenes From a Marriage" -- just a lot of bickering.
Why isn't this a British film, anyway? Because Stanley Donen and Frederic Raphael are American?
Two For The Road looks at the marriage of Mark and Joanna Wallace at five different stages of their relationship, and it's only in the "red Triumph" sequence (set in 1963) that their marriage goes on the rocks; this is when we see them being unfaithful to one another, and this is the only time their relationship is truly stretched to the breaking point. It's apparent in the final "white Mercedes" sequence (set in 1966) that they're still getting over their near break-up, but by the end of the sequence it's also clear they're putting this "dark" period behind them and moving forward - and perhaps in a stronger position than they were before.
Two For The Road is neither Scenes From A Marriage nor a standard issue "romantic comedy" - it's Two For The Road, and it never pretends to be anything else. In the film's commentary track, director Stanley Donen states that he wanted to make a film that dispelled the "happily ever after" myth of cinematic marriage; in reality, if two people get married - and they're lucky - they live together ever after, and not always happily. But then, that's life in the real world. There's no question that Mark and Joanna do their share of bickering, but this can happen when two very strong and passionate people come together. However, anyone who says that Mark and Joanna do nothing but bicker hasn't watched the movie attentively. The bickering is balanced by a good deal of tenderness and shared humor, which is why much of Two For The Road is both touching and flat-out hilarious.
In the "Ford stationwagon" sequence (set in 1956) and the "MG" sequence (set in 1960), Mark and Joanna deal with various types of adversity, but it comes from sources outside their marriage (ie, coping first with the ghastly Maxwell-Manchesters, and later a malfunctioning MG). However, both of these sequences conclude well for the Wallaces, and the 1954 "hitchhiking" segment (in which they first meet) is, in my view, the most romantic portrait of two people falling in love ever put on film.
Despite its international cast and crew, Two For The Road is considered an American film because it was financed by a major American studio and helmed by an American director. But I don't see it as having any kind of narrow "American" sensibility; after all, the main characters are British and the film's portrait of a long-term relationship (and the adjustments two people have to make to keep it functioning successfully) is universal.
Why do you think there have to be some turnaround in a marriage? Not every couple stayed in a marriage because they have all the problems resolved. In fact most people stay married because the issue had become the status quo of their marriage. (If you have listened to director Stanley Donen's commentary to the movie, one thing he liked about "Two For The Road" is that Mark & Joanna did NOT forgive and forget after Joanna returned back to Mark once her rendezvous with David was over.) It is not romantic but it is realistic. That's why so many people find "Two For The Road" so modern - it didn't take the usual Hollywood happy ending route.
shareMarriage is Hard.
That's what this film is about....
And it is a classic.
Well, personally, I found it a chore to sit through, yet, by the time it was over, I kind of loved it. And, thinking about it now, I find it very hard not to go ahead and add this to my list of favorites! But, then I remember how hard it was to set through the majority of the time, and I resist the urge. It's funny how I like it more in my mind than while I was watching it, apparently.
But, I do have a certain real appreciation for it. And, the film-score is melancholy-beautiful!
Please excuse typos/funny wording; I use speech-recognition that doesn't always recognize!
I really need to give this movie another chance once of these days because I keep hearing about it from various sources. I've been known to have a complete turnaround with films when I watch them a second time. I was surprised at how much this film grated on me the first time I watched it.
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