Two For The Road

= 4 stars

Starring Audrey Hepburn, Albert Finney
Directed by Stanley Donen

Amazon Link

This gem slipped under my radar after all these years. It’s a 1967 road film featuring Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney, turning in expert, mature performances as Joanna and Mark Wallace, married for twelve years. The film cuts between several of the couple’s trips to Europe, showing different stages of their relationship. The tricky thing is there isn’t any framing to the leaps in time, leaving only visual cues in the hairstyles, clothing, who they’re with, and above all the couple’s behavior towards one another.

Mark Wallace’s (Albert Finney) personality doesn’t change much over the twelve years - he’s essentially a self-centered lout with a fun, improvisational sense of humor, mimicking an American accent while going crazy with tickle fests and Frankenstein impersonations. However, a mean sarcastic streak is evident from the start. By contrast, Joanna Wallace (Audrey Hepburn) begins as a cute, wide eyed youth, but by relationship’s end, seems to have picked up Mark’s sourness, hiding behind large sunglasses and matching each quip with an equally barbed one.

Funny moments are found throughout, such as the striving-for-sterility American family the Manchesters, toting a bratty, over indulged child possibly from hell, but more likely Hoboken. Also notable are the sixties-era outfits worn by Hepburn. In one scene her sunglasses are so large they resemble moon wear.

Near the end of their marriage, their gripes and disappointment in ther cruel jabs only show that they know each other all too well, and are only suited for each other. Knowing what buttons to push is a great release, and what would you do with them gone? They don’t seem to have much clue.

Two For The Road is certainly no Roman Holiday. This is romantic comedy with very little of the latter. It’s a dark film, it reminded me a great deal of a progenitor for one of my favorite films, Annie Hall.

IMDB: Two For The Road
Wikipedia: Two For The Road
Rotten Tomatoes: Two For The Road 82%

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