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Two For The Road on DVD (1966)

Two For The Road cover art
Average rating: 60%
1441092091355
3.0
from 163 members
 
Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Albert Finney, Eleanor Bron, William Daniels, Nadia Gray, Claude Dauphin
Director: Stanley Donen
Studio: OPTIMUM HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time: 111 mins
Certificate: PG
Genres: Drama
Languages: English
Released: 19/07/2004

Brief synopsis of Two For The Road

After 12 years of marriage, British couple Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney find themselves wondering whether they should continue forward through life together or go their separate ways. Bickering and bliss get equal time as husband and wife remember the past in its sunny and stormy times, and this perceptive tale of the struggle to create and maintain a fulfilling marriage rings true in nearly every scene.
Seven years earlier, director Stanley Donen explored the stress fractures in marriage with Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, and Robert Mitchum in the marvellously keen dramatic comedy THE GRASS IS GREENER, and Donen returned to the subject again in the early 1980s in BLAME IT ON RIO with less empathy and more nudity. TWO FOR THE ROAD, however, has always been the most popular of this trio of films about marriage on the rocks, as Hepburn and Finney give winning performances of partners who love each other but aren't sure they're in love anymore. Screenwriter and novelist Frederic Raphael's sparkling screenplay gives the movie zest and poignancy. Hepburn's wardrobe was designed by Mary Quant and Paco Rabanne, while Sir Hardy Amies dressed Albert Finney.

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Critics Reviews

Rating of 4 stars out of 5 Radio Times

The relationship of a couple (Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney), from the youthful idyll of their love affair and early years of marriage through the stages of disillusion to the brink of collapse, is told in a series of sometimes confusing flashbacks and flash-forwards. Directed by Stanley Donen with his customary flair, the comedy drama is played out in glossy French locations as the couple make a series of road trips across the country over a period of a dozen years. Frederic Raphael's Oscar-nominated screenplay is a quintessentially Swinging Sixties piece, reflecting both the strengths and weakness of the period — relentlessly trendy and “chattering-class” fashionable yet, at times, bitterly honest and painful. Hepburn (then aged 37) effortlessly ages backwards to a young student and, freed from her Givenchy-clad image, evinces a range of emotions with controlled subtlety and incisiveness. Finney is excellent, and there's a memorable cameo from Eleanor Bron. Highly recommended.

Rating of 1 stars out of 4 Halliwell's Film Guide

Fractured, fashionable light romantic comedy dressed up to seem of more significance than the gossamer thing it really is; and some of the gossamer has a Woolworth look.

Time Out

Old-fashioned romantic comedy tricked out with some new-fangled ideas. Donen does some tricksy time-jumping between... Read more on www.timeout.com

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Members Reviews

Reviews Voted Most Helpful

Rated - 4 starsTwo for the Road

SAI81 from Tonbridge [Highly rated reviewer] , 19/10/2005

One of the most striking, and brilliant, films of 2005 is Francois Ozon's 5 X 2. In this Ozon conducts something of an autopsy of love, over 5 segments charting thorugh backwards chronology the relationship between his husband and wife characters. Two for the Road plays like a proto 5 X 2. There's certainly many differences; first of all there's the structure while 5 X 2 simply unfolds backwards Two for the Road is far more complex, cutting across the years at more or less random points and in no discernable order. This is at once a strength and a weakness of the film as while it captures the chaos of the relationship between the characters and provides some beautifully edited moments it's also a frustratingly obscure way to structure the film, particularly given that the only signposts of the flashbacks and flashforwards are changing hairstyles, wardrobe and cars. However at least the structure means we never have to spend long with the supremely annoying characters played by William Daniels, Eleanor Bron and young Gabrielle Middelton. Outside of those sequences though Two for the Road is an excellent film. It's beautifully played by Finney and, particularly, Hepburn who has most to do and plays against type. Hepburn is completely out of her comfort zone in this film, she's not dressed by Givenchy, but mainly by Mary Quant and she's far more overtly sexual than she ever was before. Hepburn also gets to swear; okay she says 'bast**d' twice but coming from her even such mild profanity is shocking. Going from the flighty young thing we're used to seeing her play to an embittered, unhappily married thirty something (though that can't have been hard as she was an unhappily married thirty seven when the film was made) she's outstanding in every scene. There's enough fun stuff (including a particularly lovely moment at some traffic lights) in the early part of Mark and Joanna's relationship to keep the film from being a series of arguments and keep the audience happily entertained. The structure might make Two for the Road a tough sell for some audiences but if you like to engage your brain as well as being told a story and can accept a more acidic take on relationships than most rom-com fluff of today dishes up then you'd do well to check out this fine, if occasionally frustrating, film.

  4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 3 starsPleasant afternoon viewing

A customer from England , 18/09/2004

Not a film I had ever heard of, and not as good as most Audrey Hepburn films, but made for a pleasant couple of hours.

Not a film to watch with anyone who cannot cope with constant changes between one year and another (then back again), but brought several smiles to my face none the less.

Worth viewing.

  2 out of 3 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 4 starsCustomer Review

A customer from UK , 23/06/2008

Let me firstly say, I agree with the previous reviewers in that the film is fantastic, the dvd is average. More care could have gone into its release, but better its released than not.

This is indeed a 'forgotten' classic; Hepburn and Finney are perfect as the couple who's lives we see over the same journey taken over several years from their initial meeting to later years. Its both funny, and achingly sad at times. The score is also beautiful, and perfect. Audrey Hepburn looks stunning, as does the gorgeous French scenery. The way the film is cut is also very clever, with scenes from different eras overlapping.

Its a wonderful film, and although firmly of the 1960's (with great Paco Rabanne, Mary Quant fashions)the theme of love and relationships is universal.

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Rated - 1 starsDreadful

Wobblo from lavenham , 29/09/2005

Sorry, but having great respect for Peter Finch and Hepburn I expected something less dreadful. Cornball and barely watchable. This romp through France is neither funny nor profound. And why does Finch have to shout his lines as if he is on stage?

  1 out of 4 people found this review helpful
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Most Recent Reviews

Rated - 3 starsPleasant afternoon viewing

A customer from England , 18/09/2004

Not a film I had ever heard of, and not as good as most Audrey Hepburn films, but made for a pleasant couple of hours.

Not a film to watch with anyone who cannot cope with constant changes between one year and another (then back again), but brought several smiles to my face none the less.

Worth viewing.

  2 out of 3 people found this review helpful
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