Love Affair (1994)

Plot: During a flight to Sydney, a singer  and Ex-football star fall in love. They agree to meet in NYC three months later to see if the attraction still holds.  The 2nd remake of Love Affair (1939)
Stars: Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Katherine Hepburn

No surprise  - this is one bad movie. In 1994, the critics disliked it and it did poor box-office. Love Affair is tepid, slow-paced, and full of bad artistic decisions. This is an old-fashioned, two-person story, requiring lots of charisma and a light comedic touch from the leads - and Beatty/Bening don't make the grade. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr they ain't. Other problems include: an embarrassing performance from 87 y/o Hepburn, an unbelievable cruise ship sequence*, and a flat script.  The introduction is awful with an annoying music score**. Finally, 57 y/o Beatty is too old and has little romantic chemistry with Bening.***

Summary:  Unless you're a Beatty or Bening fan, (or wish to see Kate Hepburn's last feature film performance) avoid at all costs.  Rating 1 out of 4

Notes

* - For some reason, Beatty decided to duplicate the shipboard romance of the first two films. But the Transatlantic liners used in the 1939 and 1957 films weren't unusual - that's how average people got across the Atlantic. Here, we get 747 engine trouble, an emergency landing on Cook Island, and a slow-boat to Tahiti. And guess who's there? Why Katherine Hepburn.  How convenient.  The contrivance is jarring and completely unnecessary.

** - No doubt because everyone in the movie is white, we get a lot of Jazz bits and pop songs from Louis Jordan, Ray Charles, and Bobby Short. None of it fits the movie.

*** - Although a lady-killer in real life, Beatty's track record as a Rom-Com star is decidedly mixed.  He has mediocre chemistry with Julie Christie in Heaven Can Wait, Hawn in Dollars Caron in Promise Her Anything and Halle Berry in Bulsworth.