Tennessee Williams always has an important message in his stage works. This certainly true in this Christmas story of two couples whose interfacing when they have totally unrelated crises causes both couples to reconsider the real basis of their own relationship. The second half of the film is really George Roy Hill at his best, though the first half tends to wander. I have never been completely sold on the screen acting ability of Jane Fonda because she is, to me, largely a solo performer who does a fantastic "cabaret" scene when the camera focuses on her. She has never been a true ensemble player, and this is a movie version of a stage play which requires an ensemble cast! Tony Franciosa, Jim Hutton, Lois Nettleton, John McGiver and Mabel Albertson bond as a team and perform the play, but despite some fantastic solo camera work by Fonda, she seems in no way a member of this team effort.
Review of Period of Adjustment
Period of Adjustment
(1962)
memorable scenes in an otherwise mediocre play made into a movie
23 December 2010