This film reminds me very much of "Marty", another Chayefsky screenplay, where two allegedly mismatched main characters are criticized by family and friends, only for them to say the hell with everyone at the end because they know they're meant to be together.
In "Marty" nobody approved of the pairing because the girl was too unattractive and too old; here the complaints are that the girl is too attractive and too young.
Ultimately, tho, each story is not really about the main characters, who are just trying to go about the business of finding some happiness for themselves, but about everyone around them and how they perceive the pairing.
Marty's mother is afraid of being deserted by her son; Jerry's sister is afraid of being kicked out of the house. Marty's friends are afraid of being abandoned on Saturday night; Jerry's daughter is afraid of being abandoned in favor of the new wife.
All the women around Jerry and Betty are against the couple for one reason or another. He's a dirty old man, she's a gold-digger. He's foolish, she's desperate.
Only Martin Balsam's character, Jerry's son-in-law, seems to be happy for his father-in-law. Is it because he's a man and is also afraid of getting old and being alone some day?
In the end, Jerry and Betty push everyone else and their unsolicited opinions aside and fall into each other's arms and profess their love for each other, just as Marty pushes Angie away and reaches for the phone so that "Come New Year's Eve, I got a date!" We are left with the happy and romantic ending we wanted for these people.
It's a nice idea, but is it realistic? I have to wonder what happened a year after the wedding. I highly doubt Betty's mother would ever stop telling her about George, the ex-husband, and how well he's doing with his new job. I don't think Jerry's sister would really move out, and would constantly try to control the household just as she always did and keep Betty in a subservient role. I don't think Betty would ever feel comfortable among Jerry's friends, who are all 30 years older than her.
Marty's future looked a little bit brighter, but not by much.
It makes me wonder also about Mr. Chayefsky's view on the human race, that he wrote two such sad stories about happiness. Both films are excellent as far as the technical aspects -- photography, dialogue, acting -- but neither one ever leaves me feeling very optimistic for the characters.
In "Marty" nobody approved of the pairing because the girl was too unattractive and too old; here the complaints are that the girl is too attractive and too young.
Ultimately, tho, each story is not really about the main characters, who are just trying to go about the business of finding some happiness for themselves, but about everyone around them and how they perceive the pairing.
Marty's mother is afraid of being deserted by her son; Jerry's sister is afraid of being kicked out of the house. Marty's friends are afraid of being abandoned on Saturday night; Jerry's daughter is afraid of being abandoned in favor of the new wife.
All the women around Jerry and Betty are against the couple for one reason or another. He's a dirty old man, she's a gold-digger. He's foolish, she's desperate.
Only Martin Balsam's character, Jerry's son-in-law, seems to be happy for his father-in-law. Is it because he's a man and is also afraid of getting old and being alone some day?
In the end, Jerry and Betty push everyone else and their unsolicited opinions aside and fall into each other's arms and profess their love for each other, just as Marty pushes Angie away and reaches for the phone so that "Come New Year's Eve, I got a date!" We are left with the happy and romantic ending we wanted for these people.
It's a nice idea, but is it realistic? I have to wonder what happened a year after the wedding. I highly doubt Betty's mother would ever stop telling her about George, the ex-husband, and how well he's doing with his new job. I don't think Jerry's sister would really move out, and would constantly try to control the household just as she always did and keep Betty in a subservient role. I don't think Betty would ever feel comfortable among Jerry's friends, who are all 30 years older than her.
Marty's future looked a little bit brighter, but not by much.
It makes me wonder also about Mr. Chayefsky's view on the human race, that he wrote two such sad stories about happiness. Both films are excellent as far as the technical aspects -- photography, dialogue, acting -- but neither one ever leaves me feeling very optimistic for the characters.