The Way we Were

The Way We Were (1973) Pollack. 118 minutes. Communist Streisand and Bourgeois Redford have a romance during and after WW II. Pros: Streisand is well cast. She plays the obnoxious, mouthy, plain-faced Jewish Stalinist from New York to perfection. Second, Redford is also well-cast as the empty headed, apolitical, passive, pretty boy who falls in love with her. Third, the movie is lushly photographed and Streisand doesn't look awful all the time. And any physical contact between Redford and Streisand is minimized. Cons: Streisand character is charmless and constantly rants and nags. Unbelievable love story, phony looking 1940s sets, no memorable dialogue, weak supporting characters - except for James Woods, pace slow at times.

The movies politics are interesting. The producers were brave to make an outright Stalinist the heroine. But then they fudge the facts and make Streisand a "good" commie. The film only shows her talking about fighting fascism and HUAC and how she's "Late for her Young Communist league meeting". We don't see her talk in Communist jargon, breathe hatred against the bourgeois and Trotsky, attack religion and patriotism, defend Stalin and the 1939 Nazi-Soviet pact, help spies funnel Government secrets to the USSR or campaign to keep the USA out of WW II from Sept 1939-June 1941. So, even though Babs has a picture of Lenin on her wall, she's really just an 'intense' liberal.

The movie's portrait of 1946-1948 Hollywood and HUAC is also interesting. Evidently, Hollywood back then was run by wealthy WASP Ivy-league producers that looked like Patrick O'Neal and Bradford Dillman while left-wing New Yorkers - like Babs - felt out of place. And -per the movie - anti-communist mobs roamed the streets attacking any Hollywood celebrity brave enough to protest HUAC.

Conclusion: Seen with Mrs. RC as a favor - it wasn't as awful as I expected. No doubt its target audience - Communists and Streisand fans - will enjoy it more.Rating **