I wasn't quite convinced by this big-star, big budget post-war Hollywood background love story and even though I was committed to watching it all the way through, it seemed to me an uneasy mix of a love-story set to the backdrop of the anti-communist witch - hunt of the day. While it has some points in its favour, I found the writing and acting of not quite the highest standard leaving a sense of unfulfilment by the end.
Hollywood in the 70's was at last ready to confront openly its own shame at its treatment of left-leaning actors writers and directors ("The Front" starring Woody Allen was soon to follow) and "The Way We Were" must have been something of a trailblazer in that respect which is certainly to its credit. Furthermore it's laudable to present the viewer with a deeper than usual love-story against this background, with many of the conversations of the leads debating interesting points on artistic integrity, political correctness and the shallowness of much of the general public's response to freedom-challenging issues of the day. In the end though I got the sense that director Pollack was more interested in the love story angle than the political angle (perhaps with an eye on the box-office) and this throws the film off-kilter.
Streisand gets the showiest part (and, interestingly, her name in front of Redford's over the titles) and is mostly good. She's usually better when she says least (for example when Redford crudely and drunkenly "makes" her at her apartment) although her motor-mouth delivery obviously helps with her character's verbosity. More than once, though, you can see her acting and obviously hoping that Oscar was watching (he obviously wasn't). Redford is altogether more natural in his part as the handsome hunk with something approaching a brain but who ultimately can't accept Streisand's at times over-strident political philosophising. However one's sympathy for his character was dissipated by his turning love-rat on a now-pregnant Streisand and then abandoning her and their child almost the minute the child is born. Both these actions are loathsome in the extreme (not to mention an offensive homophobic remark he makes at another juncture) and by the time he's walking out on her for the last time at the conclusion (having also now sold-out the writing talent which Streisand alone had encouraged), you realise you've been watching a "woman's" film after all with the dice loaded in favour of Streisand's character. I was disappointed with this revelation as to Redford's character's true colours and felt it inconsistent with much of what had gone before.
The film was obviously on a two-header basis which doesn't leave much room for the supporting actors to shine although Brad Dillman and Lois Chiles do okay with what they're given. Director Pollack keeps the narrative moving although some of the settings and costumery employed looked at times too contemporary. I'm also bound to state that I never got the impression that either lead was ageing down the years.
As for the music score, while Marvin Hamlisch's title song is pretty and has obviously become a standard, I felt its strains were just too intrusive throughout and felt it should have been left a titles-only piece.
A film then, at once ambitious and conservative, political and soporific, lush but talky - in the end I found it didn't enmesh these contradictions sufficiently well and missed its marks accordingly.
Hollywood in the 70's was at last ready to confront openly its own shame at its treatment of left-leaning actors writers and directors ("The Front" starring Woody Allen was soon to follow) and "The Way We Were" must have been something of a trailblazer in that respect which is certainly to its credit. Furthermore it's laudable to present the viewer with a deeper than usual love-story against this background, with many of the conversations of the leads debating interesting points on artistic integrity, political correctness and the shallowness of much of the general public's response to freedom-challenging issues of the day. In the end though I got the sense that director Pollack was more interested in the love story angle than the political angle (perhaps with an eye on the box-office) and this throws the film off-kilter.
Streisand gets the showiest part (and, interestingly, her name in front of Redford's over the titles) and is mostly good. She's usually better when she says least (for example when Redford crudely and drunkenly "makes" her at her apartment) although her motor-mouth delivery obviously helps with her character's verbosity. More than once, though, you can see her acting and obviously hoping that Oscar was watching (he obviously wasn't). Redford is altogether more natural in his part as the handsome hunk with something approaching a brain but who ultimately can't accept Streisand's at times over-strident political philosophising. However one's sympathy for his character was dissipated by his turning love-rat on a now-pregnant Streisand and then abandoning her and their child almost the minute the child is born. Both these actions are loathsome in the extreme (not to mention an offensive homophobic remark he makes at another juncture) and by the time he's walking out on her for the last time at the conclusion (having also now sold-out the writing talent which Streisand alone had encouraged), you realise you've been watching a "woman's" film after all with the dice loaded in favour of Streisand's character. I was disappointed with this revelation as to Redford's character's true colours and felt it inconsistent with much of what had gone before.
The film was obviously on a two-header basis which doesn't leave much room for the supporting actors to shine although Brad Dillman and Lois Chiles do okay with what they're given. Director Pollack keeps the narrative moving although some of the settings and costumery employed looked at times too contemporary. I'm also bound to state that I never got the impression that either lead was ageing down the years.
As for the music score, while Marvin Hamlisch's title song is pretty and has obviously become a standard, I felt its strains were just too intrusive throughout and felt it should have been left a titles-only piece.
A film then, at once ambitious and conservative, political and soporific, lush but talky - in the end I found it didn't enmesh these contradictions sufficiently well and missed its marks accordingly.