Love Affair (1994)

Ex-football star Mike Gambril meets Terry McKay on a flight to Sydney, which is forced to land on a small atoll. Both engaged to others, they become romantic on board the ship sent to take ... See full summary »

Director:

Glenn Gordon Caron

Writers:

Mildred Cram, Leo McCarey,

Stars:

Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Katharine Hepburn

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Warren Beatty	...	Mike Gambril
Annette Bening	...	Terry McKay
Katharine Hepburn	...	Ginny
Garry Shandling	...	Kip DeMay
Chloe Webb	...	Tina Wilson
Pierce Brosnan	...	Ken Allen
Kate Capshaw	...	Lynn Weaver
Paul Mazursky	...	Herb Stillman
Brenda Vaccaro	...	Nora Stillman
Glenn Shadix	...	Anthony Rotundo
Barry Miller	...	Robert Crosley
Harold Ramis	...	Sheldon Blumenthal
Linda Wallem	...	Lorraine
Meagen Fay	...	SSA Flight Attendant
Ray Girardin	...	Wally Tripp

Storyline

Ex-football star Mike Gambril meets Terry McKay on a flight to Sydney, which is forced to land on a small atoll. Both engaged to others, they become romantic on board the ship sent to take the 'plane passengers to a larger island. They agree to meet in New York three months later to see if the attraction is real. One shows up, the other doesn't, but they run into each other afterwards.

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Plot Keywords:

painting | grounded flight | box office flop | singer | aunt | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for one use of strong language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 October 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Perfect Love Affair

Filming Locations:

Empire State Building - 350 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$18,250,211 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mulholland Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Carrie Fisher was an uncredited script doctor on the film.

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Goofs

The aircraft exterior is that of a newest Boeing 747-400, however the interior shots show a spiral staircase only used on the older 747-100 and 200 models.

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Quotes

Terry McKay: I guess I'm happy when I don't want to be anywhere else but where I am.

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Connections

Version of Love Affair (1939)

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Soundtracks

"I Will"
Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

User Reviews

Painting, Shawls

There are multiple reasons to like this. I'll mention two.

One comes from the fact that it is a remake. Such things have miraculous properties. Storytelling is all about choices, most invisible. Its the goal sometimes. But when you have a remake and you know the original, then all the scaffolding of the thing becomes visible and you can marvel or not at the changes that have been made. The choices.

I do not know the 1939 version, but I do the 57 version with Cary Grant. Its not just mawkish and cheap, its offensive, even vile. The method of presentation depends not on the love, but on the helplessness of the pair. They are quite literally prostitutes, professional paid escorts. He is enchanted by her primarily because she didn't show at the rendezvous and since no one had ever turned him down before he fell in "love" hard, because of the chase. It hit all the negative buttons, even the racist ones.

This redone in such a way that it avoids all those faults. It has almost precisely the same story, but instead of cheap sentimental exploitation, you get rich cinematic romance. You get love embodied in actors, three good ones. You get real love — at least so far as movies have — and not infatuation. You have lovers adjusting lives to fit, not tossing advantage in spite.

For me it worked as a romantic movie. I know it failed to sell many tickets, and can only guess that it was too honest and true, with not enough sweeping violins. We don't like true love in movies.

And that brings me to the other value, the fold with real life. Beatty really was the sort of character he played here, a serial screwer, a man engaged in the chase, someone not to be trusted but who clearly has an image-based artistic side. Benning's reputation was less public, but she was close to being the most desirable woman in Hollywood after "Grifters."

They really did fall in love. At filming, she was already carrying their second child. The chemistry is real and conveyed effectively. I make a special study of films where the director is in love with the main actress. Its rare that such a man has such a love, and produces, writes and stars in such a profession of love. Life folded into film romance done competently and cinematically. Is there anything in film romance that matters more?

The palette is rosey. Its lovely to watch.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.