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Viewers who know Albert Finney mainly as a middle-aged supporting player in such films as Erin Brockovich and Big Fish are in for a treat with this 1967 romance, featuring the English-born actor in his prime as a leading man. Two for the Road is also a showcase for his costar, the luminous Audrey Hepburn, whose beauty sometimes overshadowed her ability. Director Stanley Donen attempts to show and analyze just what it is that makes a marriage work, casting Finney and Hepburn as a couple shown taking the same trip -- from London to the French Riviera -- at three different stages of their lives. Crosscutting brings out different aspects of the relationship, as Donen flashes forward and back from one period to another, painting a picture of the marriage's evolution. Hepburn portrays her character first as a young and impressible newlywed, then a pregnant wife anticipating the birth of her first child, and then, five years into the marriage, a restive spouse just beginning to show boredom. Finney's slightly stuffy husband doesn't quite show the same progression of emotional growth, which of course contributes to his wife's discontent. He has the less showy role but plays it with such perfect pitch that the viewer never entirely loses sympathy for him. The views on marriage expressed by screenwriter Frederic Raphael are by turns perceptive, amusing, cynical, and even bitter, but Donen's direction, the stars' performances, and the glamorous Continental locations maintain an air of sophistication that makes Two for the Road a delightful cinematic jaunt. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

In preparing his romantic comedy Two For the Road, director Stanley Donen decided to utilize many of the cinematic techniques popularized by the French "nouvelle vague" filmmakers. Jump cutting back and forth in time with seeming abandon, Donen and scriptwriter Frederic Raphael chronicle the 12-year relationship between architect Wallace (Albert Finney) and his wife (Audrey Hepburn). While backpacking through Europe, student Finney falls for lovely music student Jacqueline Bisset, but later settles for Hepburn, another aspiring musician (this vignette served as the launching pad for the film-within-a-film in Francois Truffaut's 1973 classic Day for Night). Once married, Finney and Hepburn go on a desultory honeymoon, travelling in the company of insufferable American tourists William Daniels and Eleanor Bron and their equally odious daughter Gabrielle Middleton. Later on, during yet another road trip, Finney is offered an irresistible job opportunity by Claude Dauphin, which ultimately distances Finney from his now-pregnant wife. Still remaining on the road, the film then details Finney and Hepburn's separate infidelities. The film ends where it begins, with Finney and Hepburn taking still another road vacation, hoping to sew up their unraveling marriage. While critics did nip-ups over Stanley Donen's "revolutionary" nonlinear story-telling techniques, audiences responded to the chemistry between Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney, not to mention the unforgettable musical score by Henry Mancini. Note: many TV prints of Two for the Road are edited for content, robbing the viewer of Finney and Hepburn's delightful "Bitch/Bastard" closing endearments. Hal Erickson

Entertainment Weekly

Hollywood has never given us a smarter, more elegant, or more touching movie about the making, mauling, and mending of a marriage. -- Mark Harris

Product Details

• UPC: 024543208129
• Source: 20TH CENTURY FOX
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Cinemascope (2.35:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Stereo
• Language: English, Français, Español
• Subtitles: English, Español
• Time: 1:51:00
• Sales Rank: 6,333

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