In an age of revolution, this timely human story straddles the line between comedy and drama with energy and elegance. Bob & Carol (Robert Culp and Natalie Wood) are a married couple who find a new lease on honesty after attending an Esalen-like new age therapy retreat. Their earnestness profoundly affects best friends Ted & Alice (Elliott Gould and Dyan Cannon, both in Oscar-nominated performances) who cautiously explore this new kind of vulnerability too. Affairs and dalliances come to the fore as they all start acknowledging their sexual wants/desire/neuroses. A refreshing, steamy, nonjudgmental take on marriage and honesty, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice is perfect movie about couples who were too old to be hippies but too young to have old-fashioned hangups.
“The genius of Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice is that it understands the peculiar nature of the moral crisis for Americans in this age group, and understands that the way to consider it is in a comedy. What is comedy, after all, but tragedy seen from the outside?” – Roger Ebert
Kim Morgan discusses Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice on the New Beverly blog.
