The passing of the years finds George (Alan Alda) and Doris (Ellen Burstyn) meeting annually at the Sea Shadows Inn on California's north coast. What started out as an unplanned romantic tryst in 1951 turns into a yearly event, as the couple shares family war stories in between interludes of romantic passion. The picture examines how both of their lives have changed over roughly five year intervals, with an occasional argument erupting when family realities or opposing political beliefs intervene. Notwithstanding the fact that these are two people knowingly committing adultery, the screenwriting and chemistry between the principals makes for an effective romantic comedy. Interspersed in between the chapter breaks are black and white stills of news events, celebrities and political personalities of their appropriate eras, and if one has been around since George and Doris's first meeting in 1951, the names and memories will come flooding back in a wave of nostalgia. For this viewer, I thought both actors looked their best best in the 1972 segment, when Father Michael O'Herlihy offered his marriage counseling advice to Doris's husband Harry over the phone. Though the film ends on a somewhat bittersweet note, everything that leads up to it is grounded in the the daily lives of two people who get to relive their fantasy once per year without worry or regret.

Back in the day when you could go to the movies and not have your ears blown out with over-the-top sound and special effects created by some computer (although this was just the year after "Star Wars"),movies with themes usually found today on Lifetime were theatrically released and were classy, not sappy. Broadway plays were transfered to the screen, maybe not entirely faithfully, and the results were usually above average. In the case of this hit mid 1970's two character play (which originated with Ellen Burstyn and Charles Grodin in the leading roles),Burstyn gets to repeat her role, and Alan Alda, then one of the biggest stars on TV and in an occasional movie, took over the male role. They play two married people who meet by chance on the California coast, fall into an affair which neither of them planned, and end up seeing each other once a year because they just can't live without each other, yet they can't get rid of their unseen spouses, either.

The film starts in 1951 after the audience is swept away by the beautiful "The Last Time I Felt Like This", sung by Johnny Mathis and Jane Olivor. The song is heard over the film, reflecting the passages in time, the political and social ramifications often taking over the character's lives when they meet up without even having spoken to each other since the last time they bid adieu. At first, Burstyn is a rather insecure young married woman, admittedly a high school dropout and with no more ambitions than continuing to be a housewife and mother. Alda is an accountant, and both are fairly young and innocent as they deal totally differently with the guilt they face of cheating on their partners. But as they think they'll never see each other again, they totally let go of their inner insecurities, and before parting, it is obvious that this will be a regular anniversary get-together for them.

Five years, ten years, fifteen years, twenty-one years, and finally twenty seven years pass by, and we see not only the passage of time but how each of their lives have changed. The two get to know each other's spouses and children without ever even meeting them, and as the world changes, you begin to see deep changes within them. At one point, Burstyn is a Berkeley hippie (abliet the oldest one on campus) and Alda is a stuffy accountant seemingly embarrassed by her wardrobe and actions. But there's always more to these characters than what they perceive themselves to be on the surface, and like each visit before (including one where Alda helps a very pregnant Burstyn have her baby!),they find their way back to each other.

There are moments of heartbreak and many humorous incidents. Both actors play extremely well off each other, and you can't judge them for their infidelities. In fact, the more you listen to their reasoning, the more you understand that it is their love for each other which has actually been responsible for saving their perspective marriages. There are moments where you will find yourself reaching for a handkerchief and laughing at the same time, and the ending, while potentially bittersweet, is downright hysterical if predictable. But that's O.K. By the time the story is done, you'll feel that you've known these characters for 27 years as well (even if your only 25!) just like each of them felt they knew the others spouse.

An adulterous couple meet at the same cabin every year for a weekend tryst (we see them every five years),while the world's fashions, morals and mores change around them. Ellen Burstyn repeats her Broadway triumph on the screen, and garnered an Oscar nod for Best Actress; though she's a terrific actress, this role doesn't allow Burstyn any real personality: it's all processed, from the costume and wig changes down to the mannerisms, from youthful girlishness to flip, knowing womanhood. Opposite her, Alan Alda is serviceable though rather uncomfortable, flailing away at little sitcom routines like a fish caught in a net. The sex talk between the two is queasy (despite being played for big laughs),halting the movie in its tracks. There's a love ballad that plays prior to every new chapter, and black-and-white stills representing the passing years, and this is all fine until we get back to that damn cabin. Playwright/screenwriter Bernard Slade doesn't write for the ages, he's too impatient and wants to wring laughter out of every set-up. Therefore, the film is sniggering instead of intuitive, and artificially sentimental instead of human. **1/2 from ****