Next up on the list of movies that are currently on my DVR and getting another airing on TCM is Same Time, Next Year. This one will show up on TCM tomorrow, June 14, at 2:00 PM.
The movie opens up in early 1951. George (Alan Alda) is dining alone in what looks like one of those restaurants attached to an inn. Also there dining alone is young housewife Doris (Ellen Burstyn). They, seeming to be the only two people in the place apart from the help, start talking to each other, and the next thing you know, it's the following morning. The two are in bed together, with George clearly naked since the camera strategically pans to show him putting on his boxer shorts, implying that the two had sex.
Now, in theory, that's not the biggest deal, as people do have one night stands. Except that in this case the two are married... but to other people. (The script doesn't really explain why either of the two is here alone, although later in the movie Doris talks about going on retreats. This would at least explain later events in the film but not the opening act.) In any case, neither of the two has any real interest in getting a divorce, so the two decide that they'll both make arrangements to come back in a year's time.
Maybe they did come back the following year, but the film uses a montage of current-events photos to show what was going on between that visit in 1951, and the next one shown on screen, which is in 1956. The film shows four further visits, in 1961, 1966, 1972, and 1977. Along the way, each of the two goes through the various ups and downs of life, while at the same time being swept up in the various current events going on around them. George goes into analysis, while the Vietnam War clearly has a bigger effect on both of them. There's even the possibility of one or another of the spouses (never actually seen) finding out that something's going on.
Beyond that, there's not a lot of plot to Same Time, Next Year as it's pretty much a two-character play turned into a movie, with a lot of talk and not very much action. Whether or not you're going to like this one depends a lot on the two stars. Ellen Burstyn does a good job, while I personally think that Alan Alda is clearly the weaker partner here. There's also the issue that there's really nothing that can be done to open this one up from its stage origins, since part of the point of the meetings is that they meet in a secluded place so as not to be seen together.
As I watched Same Time, Next Year, I found myself thinking of the film 84 Charing Cross Road which is much better precisely because it doesn't have to deal with the limitations that Same Time, Next Year does. It can introduce all the other people in the two main characters' lives, as well as opening up the action, which takes place in two cities anyway. Same Time, Next Year isn't bad, but it's also another of those films which clearly isn't going to be for everyone.
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