Another film I never get tired of re-watching, THE FOUR SEASONS is an entertaining, albeit predictable comedy-drama about three affluent couples who vacation together, whose perfect circle of friendship is forever altered when one couple decides to divorce and the man tries to bring his new girlfriend into the circle. There is a lot of funny stuff that goes on here and a lot of unpleasant stuff as well, especially the way the circle treats the new girlfriend, but most of it rings true and the emotions expressed among these friends about losing the wife who was rejected for a younger woman, are quite real. My only problem with this film is that all the characters talk like Alan Alda. Yes, Alda wrote and directed the film, but he should have given the characters their own personalities, not his. Alda and Carol Burnett make a very believable long-married couple, Jack and Kate as do Jack Weston and Rita Moreno as Danny and Claudia. Len Cariou makes the most of an unpleasant role as Nick, the husband who divorces his wife (Sandy Dennis, in a lovely and heartbreaking performance)and tries to bring his new girlfriend (Bess Armstrong) into the circle. There is slapstick and sentiment and pathos and I have to admit to cheering the first time I saw the scene where Armstrong tells the group off for treating her like an outsider. It's not Chekhov, but it is a charming film with likable characters, realistic situations, beautiful scenery and a lovely musical score. If you hate Alan Alda, beware.
56 Reviews
Fine comedy and drama from Alda.
Hermit C-223 April 1999
Alan Alda the actor has come up with a few worthwhile projects over the years as a writer and director. This movie, his feature directorial debut, is quite enjoyable.
Three upper-middle class couples are seen during the four vacations they take annually. They enjoy each others' company, but a fissure in the friendships begins to grows when one man tires of life with his wife and introduces his new, younger girlfriend into the group, and things go from there. Alda manages very successfully the balance between comedy and drama, aided by the excellent cast of veterans. All the principals here (the first seven listed in the credits) do fine work.
Three upper-middle class couples are seen during the four vacations they take annually. They enjoy each others' company, but a fissure in the friendships begins to grows when one man tires of life with his wife and introduces his new, younger girlfriend into the group, and things go from there. Alda manages very successfully the balance between comedy and drama, aided by the excellent cast of veterans. All the principals here (the first seven listed in the credits) do fine work.
A Favorite of an Alda Fan....
alexandraslate19 October 2002
I was 14 the first time I saw this film in 1981 on HBO. I found it to be a totally engrossing movie that made one actually think about the complexities of life and relationships other than just your typical movie fare of sex and violence. They just don't make movies like this one anymore, and probably never will again (which is sad).
Like Vivaldi's Four Seasons, the cast of characters cover a range of emotions; through anger, grief, and denial of the departure of the spouse of one of the couples who vacation quarterly together and finally acceptance when a new and (younger) addition enters the picture.
The banter between the couples is unusually intelligent, and hysterically funny in some scenes. Jack Weston's character Danny is my favorite. Alda's Jack describes him in one scene as being hypochondriachal, which is the understatement of the year. He seems to feel that he is dying at any given moment of any number of diseases. Death to him is imminent, and his portrayal of this emotion is brilliantly funny because of the sincerity with which he tries to convince the others of the validity of his fears. I loved the scene where he and his wife Claudia have an arguement and she offers up the suggestion once too often that her Italian heritage is the reason for her behavior and Danny cuts loose on her. He gets so into it, that it doesn't seem to matter to the director that he flubbed the line where he's screaming out the window that "I'm sick of your I'm your Italian", when he really meant to say "I'm sick of your I'm Italian". So the scene is left in.
The scene where Jack and Kate laugh their a**e* off on the boat one night while listening to Nick and Ginny having sex is also hysterical.
Really great movie. Highly recommended for people as desperate as I am for some intelligent and thought provoking entertainment.
Like Vivaldi's Four Seasons, the cast of characters cover a range of emotions; through anger, grief, and denial of the departure of the spouse of one of the couples who vacation quarterly together and finally acceptance when a new and (younger) addition enters the picture.
The banter between the couples is unusually intelligent, and hysterically funny in some scenes. Jack Weston's character Danny is my favorite. Alda's Jack describes him in one scene as being hypochondriachal, which is the understatement of the year. He seems to feel that he is dying at any given moment of any number of diseases. Death to him is imminent, and his portrayal of this emotion is brilliantly funny because of the sincerity with which he tries to convince the others of the validity of his fears. I loved the scene where he and his wife Claudia have an arguement and she offers up the suggestion once too often that her Italian heritage is the reason for her behavior and Danny cuts loose on her. He gets so into it, that it doesn't seem to matter to the director that he flubbed the line where he's screaming out the window that "I'm sick of your I'm your Italian", when he really meant to say "I'm sick of your I'm Italian". So the scene is left in.
The scene where Jack and Kate laugh their a**e* off on the boat one night while listening to Nick and Ginny having sex is also hysterical.
Really great movie. Highly recommended for people as desperate as I am for some intelligent and thought provoking entertainment.
Non-stop needling and antagonism
moonspinner5529 May 2005
Three couples--best friends--are seen on four trips together during the course of a year. Writer-director-star Alan Alda shows a surprisingly stylish eye for the beauty of the changing seasons, and as a writer he knows how to shake off the melodramatic doldrums and be funny, but his sense of style and pacing isn't helped by his need to be educational, to teach us all something about ourselves (this movie hints that maybe he's been in therapy too long). The film isn't whiny, but it has shapeless scenes that are overdrawn--and the longer they go, the more rambling they become. One couple separates and the man brings a new woman into the fold, but his ex-wife (the wonderful Sandy Dennis) is much more interesting and sympathetic than who we're left with. Two college-age daughters are introduced (played by Alda's real-life children), but they don't seem to be familiar with anyone at the table. The final act allows Alda's repressed character to finally react and blow off some steam, yet the responses he elicits (particularly from his wife, Carol Burnett) aren't believable--the characters all sound and act too much like each other for there to be nuances in their reactions. Burnett is tough to get a grip on here, and I don't know if it's the writing or just the tack she's taken here as an actress, but her rigid/passive/supporting-but-unhappy wifey doesn't showcase any particular feeling; Bess Armstrong, as the new friend, doesn't get a good strong scene until almost the end, and that's because Alda enjoys poking fun at her youthful idealism (even at the end, Armstrong is stuck with dippy dialogue like, "I'm going to take a run in the snow!"). The picture was a big hit, and it may spark conversations about friendships and our need to be around what is familiar--even if it nags at us--but Alda doesn't allow for solutions. He wants to create a mess, analyze the mess, and then throw up his hands and say "that's the way life is!" But this reality of his is plastic-coated, with TV-ready dialogue, and while he's an amiable filmmaker, he's never a self-satisfied one. **1/2 from ****
Yawn
vincentlynch-moonoi27 December 2016
Warning: Spoilers
To be honest, I'm not always the biggest of fan of ensemble casts, and wasn't here, either. This is one of those movies that doesn't seem to go anywhere but exactly where you think it will go: It starts out with 3 couples fairly happily vacationing together. Without much thought you know what the trend is going to be -- the one or more of the relationships will fail, and that as the vacations progress someone will get dumped, others will stick, tensions will rise. The only question left is who will stick, who will exit, what will the tensions be about. So in terms of plot...yawn. And, some of the scenarios seem rather forced. Jumping into a lake in cold weather. Really? Hardly being phased after breaking through the ice and spending quite a few minutes in freezing water? Especially when you're an overweight unhealthy man? That's not to say that I didn't like the film, because I did enjoy several of the individual performances. Alan Alda is someone I enjoy watching every once in a while; more a television than a movie actor; but he always seems sort of the same in everything he's in. That's why I enjoy him occasionally. Interesting to see Carol Burnett is a more serious role, and although television was clearly her medium, I wish we had seen her in more movie roles. Len Cariou...seems like a decent actor, but not handsome enough to be "up there"; every once in a while he turned in a good performance worth noting; not sure this was one of those times, although he does "okay". Jack Weston, an actor I had pretty much forgotten about, but he was always reliable and is so here. Rita Moreno is here...and that's about all I can say about her in this film; they don't give her that much to do, even though she is one of the 6 main characters. Sandy Dennis was one of those quirky actresses that was just right in certain types of roles, and she does nicely here. I would actually give highest marks here to Bess Armstrong; very good at playing naive, but building to an understanding of that.
Okay, so I watched the film. Once. Is enough.
Okay, so I watched the film. Once. Is enough.
Perspective changed but still an outstanding film
tavives4 June 2011
Another reviewer mentioned how this movie has changed for them since they first saw it - and not in a good way.
For me, "The Four Seasons" has only become more relevant.
I'm watching this on Encore as I write this. When I first saw this back in 1981, I was 16 and getting ready to entire my senior year in HS. I absolutely fell in love with this film but my perspective as a teenager had me seeing these people as my parents generation and wondering if when I reached their age I would have this kind of relationship with my adult friends. I also wondered if such people really existed. I laughed at the situations and the lines but without any real world experience.
Now 30 years later, I have a very different perspective on things. I not only see myself (or aspects of myself) in each of the various characters, I find that the dialogue and relationships as presented in the film ring very true. When you are friends with other people for a long time, you do know each other well enough to be able to criticize, annoy, care about, and cherish one another the way these people do.
I have also run into and had to deal with people that are essentially carbon copies of the people portrayed in the movie. I know Jack and Kate, Danny and Claudia, Nick, Ginny, and especially Anne. These people are real - not just characters written into a screenplay. They live in my town. Their fears, dreams, and neuroses are all familiar.
Alan Alda was able to capture authentic portrayals of people by an outstanding cast. And while all movies are a distillation of sorts of character types, the individuals in this film seem particularly authentic to me.
30 years later, I find this still to be a terrific movie. It is timeless in its message, and the emotions (humor, sympathy, anger) I experience come from a genuine understanding of and kinship with these people and their situations.
For me, "The Four Seasons" has only become more relevant.
I'm watching this on Encore as I write this. When I first saw this back in 1981, I was 16 and getting ready to entire my senior year in HS. I absolutely fell in love with this film but my perspective as a teenager had me seeing these people as my parents generation and wondering if when I reached their age I would have this kind of relationship with my adult friends. I also wondered if such people really existed. I laughed at the situations and the lines but without any real world experience.
Now 30 years later, I have a very different perspective on things. I not only see myself (or aspects of myself) in each of the various characters, I find that the dialogue and relationships as presented in the film ring very true. When you are friends with other people for a long time, you do know each other well enough to be able to criticize, annoy, care about, and cherish one another the way these people do.
I have also run into and had to deal with people that are essentially carbon copies of the people portrayed in the movie. I know Jack and Kate, Danny and Claudia, Nick, Ginny, and especially Anne. These people are real - not just characters written into a screenplay. They live in my town. Their fears, dreams, and neuroses are all familiar.
Alan Alda was able to capture authentic portrayals of people by an outstanding cast. And while all movies are a distillation of sorts of character types, the individuals in this film seem particularly authentic to me.
30 years later, I find this still to be a terrific movie. It is timeless in its message, and the emotions (humor, sympathy, anger) I experience come from a genuine understanding of and kinship with these people and their situations.
Four Contrived Seasons
daoldiges12 July 2021
I recall this film being rather successful upon its original release in 1981 and decided to check it out. Lots of good elements at play here: most of the performances are quite good, Burnett, Moreno, and Weston are all thoroughly enjoyable. The score and scenery are pleasant as well. The issue is the script feels contrived and not as realistic as was intended, and becomes preachy and stilted. Nothing against Alda, but he injects too much of himself into this project to the level that he diminishes what he is trying to create. Despite the several positives, The Four Seasons mostly disappoints.
Alan Alda is a genius.
mfelter21 July 2005
When I first saw this film in the 1980s with a bunch of girlfriends, we all practically fell out of our seats with laughter. Alan Alda did a fantastic job of demonstrating mid-life crises and poignancy. There are wonderfully funny scenes with terrific characters. How many of us wonder about our marriages, how would you act if a couple you know and love broke up and he brings home a blonde bimbo/trophy wife? Would you cease the friendship, try to help the former wife, how would you handle such a tricky situation and what impact would it have on your own marriage? Alan Alda addresses it all with classy humor, nailing the reactions perfectly, writing crisp, clean copy and directing beautifully. The film is still fresh today with its humor and pathos.
To apple trees and cheese
LuvSopr3 February 2016
I was watching the Kennedy Center Honors tribute to Rita Moreno, which included some short moments of her film work. I kept wondering if they'd show anything of The Four Seasons, which, while not something she's hugely remembered for, offered her a meaty role late in her film career, and is one of the first times I had ever seen her, as I hadn't ever watched West Side Story or most of her TV work. There was no mention, and indeed, I rarely hear of the film at all these days. I did see a sneering review of the film on a blog that, among other things, seemed astonished that the movie had ever been made as it was so poor, and seemed to believe that Bess Armstrong only appears in the first third. It was that review which compelled me to write this one.
The Four Seasons is one of those films I never watch too often, as the characters and dialogue start to get on your nerves with how self- analytical and overly quippy they are, but this actually shows how ahead of its time the film was - if you add in some dramatic walking, or supernatural special effects, you have your average Aaron Sorkin or Joss Whedon script.
What works for the film is the chemistry of the cast. You genuinely believe the characters have been close for a long time, and you can understand why the women resent Ginny, Anne's "replacement" in the group, and in Nick's life. Yet because the movie is also honest about the flaws of the characters, you're also invited to see the women's resentment, and the patronizing attitude of the men, as unfair.
As time passes things start to feel a little too much (too much hectoring from Carol Burnett's Kate, a bit too much clowning from Jack Weston's Danny, a few too many measuring contests between Nick and Alan Alda's Jack), but it still ends on a satisfactory note, an ode to friendship along with a reminder of just how casually discarded friendship can be.
Even though I haven't seen this in years, many parts still stick in my mind - the classical music for the soundtrack, the gorgeous cinematography (the overhead shots of the sailboat in the summer sequence in particular), the cramped car ride and sharp turns, Nick's depressed daughter talking about how the women at her college urinate off the balconies, Carol Burnett's speech at the end about friendship and losing touch.
My favorite part of the film is Sandy Dennis' brief turn as Anne, Nick's first wife, the one discarded from his life, and then from people she saw as her friends. It's a touching performance, one that nicks at you long after she leaves the screen. Her final scene, running into her old friends, reminding them of their abandonment of her, and then moving on, is in many ways the natural conclusion of the film, and ends with such a classic line - "Maybe I'll get a goddam boa constrictor." You can't argue with that.
The Four Seasons is one of those films I never watch too often, as the characters and dialogue start to get on your nerves with how self- analytical and overly quippy they are, but this actually shows how ahead of its time the film was - if you add in some dramatic walking, or supernatural special effects, you have your average Aaron Sorkin or Joss Whedon script.
What works for the film is the chemistry of the cast. You genuinely believe the characters have been close for a long time, and you can understand why the women resent Ginny, Anne's "replacement" in the group, and in Nick's life. Yet because the movie is also honest about the flaws of the characters, you're also invited to see the women's resentment, and the patronizing attitude of the men, as unfair.
As time passes things start to feel a little too much (too much hectoring from Carol Burnett's Kate, a bit too much clowning from Jack Weston's Danny, a few too many measuring contests between Nick and Alan Alda's Jack), but it still ends on a satisfactory note, an ode to friendship along with a reminder of just how casually discarded friendship can be.
Even though I haven't seen this in years, many parts still stick in my mind - the classical music for the soundtrack, the gorgeous cinematography (the overhead shots of the sailboat in the summer sequence in particular), the cramped car ride and sharp turns, Nick's depressed daughter talking about how the women at her college urinate off the balconies, Carol Burnett's speech at the end about friendship and losing touch.
My favorite part of the film is Sandy Dennis' brief turn as Anne, Nick's first wife, the one discarded from his life, and then from people she saw as her friends. It's a touching performance, one that nicks at you long after she leaves the screen. Her final scene, running into her old friends, reminding them of their abandonment of her, and then moving on, is in many ways the natural conclusion of the film, and ends with such a classic line - "Maybe I'll get a goddam boa constrictor." You can't argue with that.
Sorry, But It Just Doesn't Ring True
tightspotkilo8 January 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I first saw this movie at the theater way back when it was released in the summer of 1981. I remember being blown away by it back then. While I was closest in age to Bess Armstrong, for reasons I still don't understand I related to the older people, their friendships, their loyalties to each other, their honesty with each other. I guess I wanted to blindly accept Alan Alda's views about long-term friendships --meaningful relationships-- and of the world generally.
That was then. This is now. Fast forward.
This movie was on TV yesterday and I saw it again for the first time since that first viewing in 1981. As it was getting ready to start I was happily thinking to myself, "It's going to be fun to see this again," so I popped up some corn and kicked back to watch. I then proceeded to be profoundly disappointed. Whereas in 1981 I was 15 years younger than the main characters, in 2006 I'm older than they were then (or in Jack Weston's case, about the same age). And I saw a movie that was shallow --even phony-- and unrealistic. Life, relationships and friendships, just don't play out this way. I could specify umpteen arcs or vignettes from the movie that struck me that way, but let me just point to one, perhaps the main source of contention between the characters in the movie, which is when the Len Cariou character, Nick, dumps his wife Anne (Sandy Dennis) for the hot younger babe, Ginny (Bess Armstrong). In Alan Alda's world these people press onward and continue to socialize, albeit with an undercurrent of hostility towards Ginny (and towards Nick too, but to a lesser degree), but continue to socialize they do. Then Alda took it a step further, and it seemed at the end, after the emotional explosion, Ginny running out and jogging in the snow all night, and them finding out she was pregnant, the group was opening their arms, and was on the verge of accepting her. Here's the deal: now, after having lived life longer than Alda had when he wrote this, and now after actually having life experience in this area, I can tell you how this works in real life. My wife and I have had friends in our circle of friends where the husbands had affairs with much younger women, divorced their wives, and married the younger woman. It's happened a couple of times amongst the people we know and socialize with. What happens is the new couple gets excluded. Period. They don't get invited. They just don't. They are ex-communicated. Why? Because the wives demand it. The wives demand it out of respect, and the men go along with it and comply out of respect, not so much for the dumped woman, but for their own wives. And the wives continue to socialize with their friend, the wife who got dumped. And if anybody gets included in future gatherings, it's her, by herself, or even with a new boyfriend or husband if she has such. But the husband who did the dumping? He's outa there. Hasta la vista. Adios amigo. Abbas rebus. Every bit of him is gone. Oh, the guys might meet him for a beer or a drink or something. But he's no longer ever again part of the couples getting together. That's how that plays out.
But that's just one example. Long term friendships and relationships just don't evolve the way Alda imagined. The movie no longer rings true to me at all. Alda's world is way too contrived. Alda's world is phony.
Whereas in 1981 I thought the movie was about friendships and relationships, and I believed Alan Alda knew what he was talking about, mainly because I didn't know any better. In 2006 I can see that Alda got it way wrong. I also see what this movie was really all about. I can't really say whether Alda did this intentionally, but it's definitely in there nevertheless, and that is that it's about a group of people facing middle age, menopause, and beyond, and not really liking very much what they saw, not in themselves and not in each other. And a little bit afraid of it too. Maybe that's where Alda's own head was at.
That was then. This is now. Fast forward.
This movie was on TV yesterday and I saw it again for the first time since that first viewing in 1981. As it was getting ready to start I was happily thinking to myself, "It's going to be fun to see this again," so I popped up some corn and kicked back to watch. I then proceeded to be profoundly disappointed. Whereas in 1981 I was 15 years younger than the main characters, in 2006 I'm older than they were then (or in Jack Weston's case, about the same age). And I saw a movie that was shallow --even phony-- and unrealistic. Life, relationships and friendships, just don't play out this way. I could specify umpteen arcs or vignettes from the movie that struck me that way, but let me just point to one, perhaps the main source of contention between the characters in the movie, which is when the Len Cariou character, Nick, dumps his wife Anne (Sandy Dennis) for the hot younger babe, Ginny (Bess Armstrong). In Alan Alda's world these people press onward and continue to socialize, albeit with an undercurrent of hostility towards Ginny (and towards Nick too, but to a lesser degree), but continue to socialize they do. Then Alda took it a step further, and it seemed at the end, after the emotional explosion, Ginny running out and jogging in the snow all night, and them finding out she was pregnant, the group was opening their arms, and was on the verge of accepting her. Here's the deal: now, after having lived life longer than Alda had when he wrote this, and now after actually having life experience in this area, I can tell you how this works in real life. My wife and I have had friends in our circle of friends where the husbands had affairs with much younger women, divorced their wives, and married the younger woman. It's happened a couple of times amongst the people we know and socialize with. What happens is the new couple gets excluded. Period. They don't get invited. They just don't. They are ex-communicated. Why? Because the wives demand it. The wives demand it out of respect, and the men go along with it and comply out of respect, not so much for the dumped woman, but for their own wives. And the wives continue to socialize with their friend, the wife who got dumped. And if anybody gets included in future gatherings, it's her, by herself, or even with a new boyfriend or husband if she has such. But the husband who did the dumping? He's outa there. Hasta la vista. Adios amigo. Abbas rebus. Every bit of him is gone. Oh, the guys might meet him for a beer or a drink or something. But he's no longer ever again part of the couples getting together. That's how that plays out.
But that's just one example. Long term friendships and relationships just don't evolve the way Alda imagined. The movie no longer rings true to me at all. Alda's world is way too contrived. Alda's world is phony.
Whereas in 1981 I thought the movie was about friendships and relationships, and I believed Alan Alda knew what he was talking about, mainly because I didn't know any better. In 2006 I can see that Alda got it way wrong. I also see what this movie was really all about. I can't really say whether Alda did this intentionally, but it's definitely in there nevertheless, and that is that it's about a group of people facing middle age, menopause, and beyond, and not really liking very much what they saw, not in themselves and not in each other. And a little bit afraid of it too. Maybe that's where Alda's own head was at.
Friends and Middle Age Fears and Follies
theowinthrop9 October 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Alan Alda's movie career has been curious. I suspect that only a handful of titles really stand out for his performances, most likely this film, SENATOR JOE TYNAN, PURLIE VICTORIOUS (an early performance), AND THE BAND PLAYED ON (where he was a glory hound of a doctor in the A.I.D.S. epidemic), and CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS (where he was an egotistical television personality, but one capable of being human). But Alda's talents are varied, including hosting a program on Channel 13 about scientific breakthroughs. Yet, most people think of Alda still as Dr. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce of the 4077 medical unit in the television series M.A.S.H. That show is now over twenty years old (but it's reruns hold up well), and Alda has appeared in good parts since on television - two years ago he and Jimmie Smitz were the Republican and Democratic Presidential candidates seeking to succeed Martin Sheen on THE WEST WING.
THE FOUR SEASONS may be his greatest film role - one that included his writing the script and directing the entire film. The story is centered on three middle aged couples, all yuppie types, who are close friends: Jack and Kate Burroughs (Alda and Carol Burnett - this may be her best performance as well in film), Nick and Anne Callan (Len Cariou and Sandy Barron), and Danny and Claudia Zimmer (Jack Weston and Rita Moreno). The three couples spend all their vacations together, and this film is studying the three pairs of friends through one year together, each section being a vacation in each season (the background music being Vivaldi's THE SEASONS).
They are appealing couples on the surface, but as the film progresses cracks appear. Alda sees himself as a type of spiritual older brother to the other males, and both Cariou and Weston grow to resent it - Cariou in particular when Alda gives his views regarding the deteriorating marriage of Cariou and Barron. Barron is playing one of her patented neurotic women types - here she is a talented photographer, but in her current therapy all she can photograph is vegetables and fruit in geometric patterns. Cariou is tired, and has met a younger woman who falls in love with him. She (Ginny Newley - Bess Armstrong) replaces Barron in the second vacation, and remains in the group (Barron does show up in the third "Autumn" vacation, visiting the college that her daughter by Cariou is attending when he and the others show up there). Armstrong does awaken jealousy among Burnett and Moreno regarding the apparent efforts of their spouses to impress her with their physical prowess. And the three couples constantly wonder why they have to spend their vacations together.
The final section of the film shows the crisis between the set of friends and with Armstrong in particular. Alda's unsolicited comments of advice and disappointment to Cariou leads to everyone turning on him. The jealousy of the ladies (when Armstrong jumps to the defense of Weston after he admits some growing fears about dying) leads to her hitting out regarding how she resents their constant high regard for Barron (although they rarely see her) at Armstrong's expense. At the end of the film, a near tragedy (that is turned into a comedy by Weston's reaction to the loss of his status-symbol Mercedes) brings everyone to their senses, and to a realization that true friends accept each other's limitations or they drift apart.
The film is a wise one, and quite amusing. Look at the sequences with Weston where he keeps calculating what each couple owes for a dinner or a rental (of a cabin or a boat) and how Alda and Cariou keep wondering why he is doing this. Also Weston and Marino discovering that there is nothing wrong with skinny dipping in the Caribbean is quite cute, especially with Weston's last plunge into the water. Alda directed other films, but THE FOUR SEASONS remains his best personal work - and the most meaningful film of his career.
THE FOUR SEASONS may be his greatest film role - one that included his writing the script and directing the entire film. The story is centered on three middle aged couples, all yuppie types, who are close friends: Jack and Kate Burroughs (Alda and Carol Burnett - this may be her best performance as well in film), Nick and Anne Callan (Len Cariou and Sandy Barron), and Danny and Claudia Zimmer (Jack Weston and Rita Moreno). The three couples spend all their vacations together, and this film is studying the three pairs of friends through one year together, each section being a vacation in each season (the background music being Vivaldi's THE SEASONS).
They are appealing couples on the surface, but as the film progresses cracks appear. Alda sees himself as a type of spiritual older brother to the other males, and both Cariou and Weston grow to resent it - Cariou in particular when Alda gives his views regarding the deteriorating marriage of Cariou and Barron. Barron is playing one of her patented neurotic women types - here she is a talented photographer, but in her current therapy all she can photograph is vegetables and fruit in geometric patterns. Cariou is tired, and has met a younger woman who falls in love with him. She (Ginny Newley - Bess Armstrong) replaces Barron in the second vacation, and remains in the group (Barron does show up in the third "Autumn" vacation, visiting the college that her daughter by Cariou is attending when he and the others show up there). Armstrong does awaken jealousy among Burnett and Moreno regarding the apparent efforts of their spouses to impress her with their physical prowess. And the three couples constantly wonder why they have to spend their vacations together.
The final section of the film shows the crisis between the set of friends and with Armstrong in particular. Alda's unsolicited comments of advice and disappointment to Cariou leads to everyone turning on him. The jealousy of the ladies (when Armstrong jumps to the defense of Weston after he admits some growing fears about dying) leads to her hitting out regarding how she resents their constant high regard for Barron (although they rarely see her) at Armstrong's expense. At the end of the film, a near tragedy (that is turned into a comedy by Weston's reaction to the loss of his status-symbol Mercedes) brings everyone to their senses, and to a realization that true friends accept each other's limitations or they drift apart.
The film is a wise one, and quite amusing. Look at the sequences with Weston where he keeps calculating what each couple owes for a dinner or a rental (of a cabin or a boat) and how Alda and Cariou keep wondering why he is doing this. Also Weston and Marino discovering that there is nothing wrong with skinny dipping in the Caribbean is quite cute, especially with Weston's last plunge into the water. Alda directed other films, but THE FOUR SEASONS remains his best personal work - and the most meaningful film of his career.
It was okay
smatysia24 July 2012
It was okay. Alan Alda and Carol Burnett can certainly act. Sandy Dennis and Rita Moreno also inhabited their roles nicely. I am not familiar with Len Cariou and Jack Weston, but there was nothing wrong with their performances. One of Alda's daughters was a bit wooden in her role, but then again, her character was depressed, so maybe that's what the director (Alda) asked for. Nice scenery, nice use of Vivaldi, unobtrusive directing. The film is about the friendship of three middle-age couples who vacation together. Some of the lines and incidents really ring true and some do not. Overall, it did not quite bore me, but I was not exactly rapt. It was okay.
great cast, but annoying script
princessandthepeabody5 January 2023
When I first saw this years ago, I really liked it. Now being older than the cast at the time, I find them annoying and obnoxious. I would never want to know, let alone vacation with this group. The cast is first rate, but yikes. Evidently this is a movie by Alana Alda for Alan Alda alone. The title should have been 'Self-Centered Obnoxious middle age man can't get enough Attention,' but I guess that was just too long. Another movie on my list of used to love, but now gone into the growing chasm of older movies never to watch again. It is also annoying that there is a required character length to leave a review, but hey.
Very Funny, Bittersweet Film
webweaver415 June 2004
I'm always surprised to read negative comments on this film. I guess I have a strange sense of humor because there are parts of this movie--quite a few parts as a matter of fact--that I find simply hysterical. There are also parts that are maddening--I do not care for Sandy Dennis' (ex)-husband at all. When you have seen the movie as many times as I have, you also begin to find flaws in the dialogue & situations--things that don't make sense to you. But never enough to make me dislike this film which has so many more truths about human nature & couples. Every one of the cast is good in their roles. Carol Burnett & Alan Alda are perfect together & have one scene in the "Fall" section that cracks me up every time. Rita Moreno was truly funny. When her husband, played by Jack Weston, leans out the window on the hotel & shouts, "She's Italian!" "There, now everyone in the state of CT knows that you're Italian." Though I've often thought that she had every right to say what led up to this scene, it is still very very funny.
I just wish it would come out on DVD. I would definitely get it.
I just wish it would come out on DVD. I would definitely get it.
Ingratiating Comedy Focuses on a Circle of Vacationing Married Friends
EUyeshima11 August 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Twenty-five years since its initial release, this 1981 comedy from Alan Alda, its director, writer and nominal star, still holds up pretty well. In fact, I just saw Norman Jewison's 2001 film, "Dinner with Friends", which feels like a partial remake in following the friendships that evolve among married couples hovering around middle age. Using Vivaldi's familiar string concertos as a transitional device, Alda's film concerns itself with three upscale couples who take vacations together every season, consequently we get four vignettes over the course of a year. It's a contrived plot machination with no sense of climax, but it all seems to fit the contours of the story.
Jack is a lawyer who would like nothing more than have group therapy sessions with his friends, while his wife Kate, a magazine editor, is a no-nonsense woman who sometimes gets frustrated with Jack's constant emotional insulation. Danny is a neurotic, penny-pinching dentist married to Claudia, an artist with the hot temper of her Italian roots. Nick is a philandering insurance agent who wants to divorce his wife Anne, a housewife frozen by her self-doubts. It is the dissolution of this last marriage that provides the impetus for the group to examine the state of their relationships with their spouses and friends. The group starts out with a spring fishing trip when Nick confides to Jack about his need for a divorce, followed by a Caribbean summer boat trip when Nick brings his new nubile girlfriend Ginny, a wide-eyed stewardess. The fall has them visiting their kids in college, and a soccer match proves to be a test of wills among the men to prove their virility to Ginny much to the chagrin of the wives. The last piece takes them to a wintry cabin where true feelings are exposed, especially as Ginny exposes the women for their vindictive exclusionary tactics.
The acting is solid. Alda seems to be doing a send-up of his own sensitive male persona as Jack, and a wisely cast Carol Burnett is actually pretty subtle as Kate. These two were such huge TV icons in the 1970's that the impact of their goodwill is almost instant. As the most comic pair, Rita Moreno and Jack Weston provide most of the laughs as they banter and bicker like Fred and Ethel Mertz redux. Broadway actor Len Cariou manages the insolence and liberation of a husband set free, while Sandy Dennis brings a palpable dimension of sadness to the socially ejected Anne. Bess Armstrong plays Ginny with an apt sunniness masking a burning need for acceptance. The story leads to little beyond a funny sight gag and an implication that Ginny will become more integral to the group, but the dialogue is often shrewdly observant and sometimes cannily witty. Alda doesn't quite have Woody Allen's sharp acumen in producing genuine laughs out of the human condition, but the film generates a good time while it lasts. The 2005 DVD has no extras.
Jack is a lawyer who would like nothing more than have group therapy sessions with his friends, while his wife Kate, a magazine editor, is a no-nonsense woman who sometimes gets frustrated with Jack's constant emotional insulation. Danny is a neurotic, penny-pinching dentist married to Claudia, an artist with the hot temper of her Italian roots. Nick is a philandering insurance agent who wants to divorce his wife Anne, a housewife frozen by her self-doubts. It is the dissolution of this last marriage that provides the impetus for the group to examine the state of their relationships with their spouses and friends. The group starts out with a spring fishing trip when Nick confides to Jack about his need for a divorce, followed by a Caribbean summer boat trip when Nick brings his new nubile girlfriend Ginny, a wide-eyed stewardess. The fall has them visiting their kids in college, and a soccer match proves to be a test of wills among the men to prove their virility to Ginny much to the chagrin of the wives. The last piece takes them to a wintry cabin where true feelings are exposed, especially as Ginny exposes the women for their vindictive exclusionary tactics.
The acting is solid. Alda seems to be doing a send-up of his own sensitive male persona as Jack, and a wisely cast Carol Burnett is actually pretty subtle as Kate. These two were such huge TV icons in the 1970's that the impact of their goodwill is almost instant. As the most comic pair, Rita Moreno and Jack Weston provide most of the laughs as they banter and bicker like Fred and Ethel Mertz redux. Broadway actor Len Cariou manages the insolence and liberation of a husband set free, while Sandy Dennis brings a palpable dimension of sadness to the socially ejected Anne. Bess Armstrong plays Ginny with an apt sunniness masking a burning need for acceptance. The story leads to little beyond a funny sight gag and an implication that Ginny will become more integral to the group, but the dialogue is often shrewdly observant and sometimes cannily witty. Alda doesn't quite have Woody Allen's sharp acumen in producing genuine laughs out of the human condition, but the film generates a good time while it lasts. The 2005 DVD has no extras.
Diverting comedy-drama of vacationing couples...
Doylenf13 October 2006
ALAN ALDA has sharpened the humor and tense situations that occur when three middle-aged couples decide to take vacations together through the four seasons, with some unexpected results. Most of the mishaps are on the funny side and there's a lot of wisecracking between the couples, some of which sounds an awful lot like TV situation stuff. CAROL BURNETT scores nicely as Alda's wife, adept as he is with one-liners.
But it's all done in a light-hearted way with the seasons bridged nicely by some transitional Vivaldi music. The story is how one couple (LEN CARIOU and SANDY DENNIS) is marked for divorce, which sets up the theme of antagonism toward the new woman entering the friendship circle and being mistreated out of spite. The new woman is played well by BESS ARMSTRONG and stand-outs among the other couples are RITA MORENO and JACK WESTON, as a bickering couple in the mold of Fred and Ethel Mertz.
The seasons are beautifully photographed and the tightly knit story structure makes the whole thing a pleasure to watch. Written and directed by Alan Alda, it's certainly a feather in his cap.
But it's all done in a light-hearted way with the seasons bridged nicely by some transitional Vivaldi music. The story is how one couple (LEN CARIOU and SANDY DENNIS) is marked for divorce, which sets up the theme of antagonism toward the new woman entering the friendship circle and being mistreated out of spite. The new woman is played well by BESS ARMSTRONG and stand-outs among the other couples are RITA MORENO and JACK WESTON, as a bickering couple in the mold of Fred and Ethel Mertz.
The seasons are beautifully photographed and the tightly knit story structure makes the whole thing a pleasure to watch. Written and directed by Alan Alda, it's certainly a feather in his cap.
Great film!
hannerac4 December 2006
"The Four Seasons" is a wonderful character study about friendship, marriage,and being middle aged. Shamefully, they don't make movies like this anymore. I was able to identify completely with the characters, their marriages, and their friendships. It made me see that my husband and I aren't the only married couple in the world who can disagree but still have a deep love and appreciation for each other. I would not recommend this movie for anyone under the age of 30. One has a more developed appreciation for this screenplay if you are older and more experienced at life. However, I would highly recommend this film to anyone over 30. It is delightful!
Pretty good but not very realistic.
susansweb20 October 2002
Stories like this one can only exist in fiction. The reason is that in real life, after the summer vacation, the three couples would have had nothing to do with each other ever again. In this movie they still get together two more times. But since this is a movie, I can ignore that. Instead I thought the movie was pretty funny. Alan Alda seemed to be spoofing the fact that at the time he was considered to be the stereotypical sensitive male by having everyone getting fed up with his psycho-analyzing. Though in three of the vignettes, water plays a factor, I can't figure out what it supposed to mean. With the exception of Bess Armstrong's meltdown (and then she goes running all night?), the verbal explosions were realistic and not the least embarrassing to watch. And how about the Alda sisters getting to insult each other? In summary, a funny film about the trials of long-term marriages and friendships.
I Love This Movie!
daris8929 August 2006
I love this movie, every single actor did a stupendous job in it. This movie deserved at least 2 Oscars. One for Alan Alda's directing and one for Rita Moreno. I thought she did fantastic. There was great chemistry between Alan and Carol, and Jack Weston and Rita Moreno. Not much for Len Cariou and Bess Armstrong in my opinion but they still did a great job performing. I love the story, when I was watching it I kept saying to my self "how is this movie gonna end?", i had not the slightest picture in my mind of the ending. It caught me by surprise, I never knew it was going to end just like that, but hey it worked. It had a very happy and simple ending. I'm 16 and say that this is my favorite movie. I never get sick of watching it. I don't have much more to say then to just recommend it to everyone. It's a fun movie to watch. The script is hilarious and you'll enjoy it very much.
not very funny
Calicodreamin11 April 2024
With the two leads being such comedic powerhouses I was expecting this movie to be a lot funnier. There were a few decent chuckles but on the whole not overtly comedic. The cast had chemistry especially amongst the couples, they certainly gave off the feel of being married for a long time. The premise was interesting and I definitely felt like I wanted to keep watching. Until, wham, it just ended. I don't know what I was expecting really but it certainly wasn't a sudden cut to credits. Though a decent enough movie I don't need feel the need to ever watch again and I'm not sure I would recommend.
Woody Allen Wannabe
jzappa16 June 2008
The Four Seasons alternately tries too hard to be a Woody Allen film and too hard to be an animated and witty stage play. In Alan Alda's trite effort to be offhand and witty with his dialogue, character-driven story, and surprisingly occasional attempts at humor, he conversely succeeds in creating a film that is so contrived that the dialogue is laughably scripted and produced through lots of pacing around trying to spice up each line, and each humorous moment is more irksomely awkward than funny.
There is one funny moment, and that's when Jack Weston finally gets fed up with Rita Moreno's constant proclamations of being Italian, even though it's overacted and overdirected.
The acting is fine, because the cast is exceptional. It's a joy to see the hilarious Carol Burnett in a movie. However, their performances applied to such an unnatural and manufactured script just makes it even gawkier and tonally tainted.
Alan Alda, though I've always enjoyed him as an actor, has disappointed me greatly by indulging so heavily in trying make something like something else the way someone else has already done it.
There is one funny moment, and that's when Jack Weston finally gets fed up with Rita Moreno's constant proclamations of being Italian, even though it's overacted and overdirected.
The acting is fine, because the cast is exceptional. It's a joy to see the hilarious Carol Burnett in a movie. However, their performances applied to such an unnatural and manufactured script just makes it even gawkier and tonally tainted.
Alan Alda, though I've always enjoyed him as an actor, has disappointed me greatly by indulging so heavily in trying make something like something else the way someone else has already done it.
Wonderful, Funny Film
ajmcgill29 August 2006
I've seen this movie every year at least once or twice since 1981. It's one of those great films to cuddle up with your dog, some popcorn and a blanket and enjoy. It's taken me from the age of 21 to 46. Not many movies are sweet and funny for 25 years.
The great part is that it not only tells the story of the "four seasons" of the couples' relationships, it also tells the story of the "four seasons" of life as typified by the daughters in college, to the older dentist and his wife.
It's funny, warm, sarcastic, sweet and romantic. You can't ask for much more from a movie. And all that without relying on women with implants, explosions or gratuitous sex. And minimal amount of bad language. So minimal, my Mother even laughs at it.
The great part is that it not only tells the story of the "four seasons" of the couples' relationships, it also tells the story of the "four seasons" of life as typified by the daughters in college, to the older dentist and his wife.
It's funny, warm, sarcastic, sweet and romantic. You can't ask for much more from a movie. And all that without relying on women with implants, explosions or gratuitous sex. And minimal amount of bad language. So minimal, my Mother even laughs at it.
4 seasons
mossgrymk16 March 2023
Alan Alda's first foray into film making is a somewhat over wrought comedy with a few laughs. It's like a kinder, gentler Woody Allen movie. No wonder it made a lot of money. It certainly doesn't hurt that there is not a bad performance in the entire cast, though I agree with a previous reviewer that a little of Jack Weston goes an extensively long way. I also like Alda's instincts as a director. He does not fall in love with super long scenes, as do many actors turned director, but does a good job of cutting so that the film feels like a movie and not a stage play.
My big problem with "Four Seasons" centers on Alda as screenwriter. Basically, I did not buy the story premise where a perfectly sensible divorce between a clearly mismatched couple (she an introvert, he the opposite) would cause such excessive sturm and drang among their friends. I mean, my wife and I and our friends have known couples whose splits have been far more visceral than the Len Cariyou/Sandy Dennis breakup and it certainly did not summon forth the yelling and declaiming and falling apart that each member of the cast (Rita Moreno excepted) is called upon to engage in. Give it a C plus.
My big problem with "Four Seasons" centers on Alda as screenwriter. Basically, I did not buy the story premise where a perfectly sensible divorce between a clearly mismatched couple (she an introvert, he the opposite) would cause such excessive sturm and drang among their friends. I mean, my wife and I and our friends have known couples whose splits have been far more visceral than the Len Cariyou/Sandy Dennis breakup and it certainly did not summon forth the yelling and declaiming and falling apart that each member of the cast (Rita Moreno excepted) is called upon to engage in. Give it a C plus.
Actors laughing at nothing.
jkrempelinsac14 June 2021
Truly one of the most obnoxious movies I've ever seen. The over acting by Alan Alda is unbearable. The howling with laughter over things that aren't funny is cringe worthy. The scenes where body movements and moving around for no reason have no rhyme nor reason. The eating of loaves of bread comes across as an inside joke. Why was this movie ever popular?
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