Ah, young love. Here we meet Oliver, a Harvard hockey jock full of his family’s money and high expectations. He falls in love with Jenny, an idealistic girl studying music whose father owns a bakery. After a cute college courtship (complete with a frolic in the snow montage) Oliver and Jenny marry. Oliver’s father won’t stand for that, so he cuts off his son’s inheritance. But love doesn’t need money, Jenny teaches and supports Oliver through Harvard law school. After he graduates and takes a great job, they start to really move up in the world. Yay! Warm fuzzies! They’ve overcome hard times with their love holding strong. But then, things take an unfortunate tragic turn. I won’t ruin the devastation for you.
People can’t take any love story seriously without good acting. Both leads, Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw were nominated for best acting as well as John Marley who played Jenny’s understanding father. Of these three, MacGraw is most intriguing to watch. She’s just the right unorthodox mix of spunky, sexy and smart to make enough guys want to watch Love Story. Portraying young love is beautiful with all its wide eyed dreams, emotion and shit.
Oh yeah, some people were put off by Love Story because of its “excessive swearing.” Please, in terms of what we’re used to today, it’s a blip on the profanity radar.
So Romeo and Juliet, Oliver and Jenny. Tomato, potato. It’s the same thing just kids at fancy east coast schools. The one thing that distinguishes Love Story is the father/child relationships. Oliver’s father expects him to excel at Harvard, be a great hockey player, go to law school and marry within his high social class. Wander just a bit and he’s out of the money.
However, Jenny and her father are on much friendlier terms. She simply calls him Phil, almost too modern for Oliver. Phil is completely accepting of Oliver and Jenny’s decisions, even when their wedding deviates to what he hoped for. Jenny hopes Oliver can learn from her father, especially when he won’t even speak to his own.
So what’s the point of Love Story? Without giving anything away, to be a love story. It’s meant for you to cuddle up and feel close to someone. And to question things about love, life and all it’s unanswerable questions. Guys, if mush is too much for you, don’t let your girl learn about Love Story. Girls, don’t watch Love Story alone, you’ll probably want a hug afterwards. Not that I’m giving anything away, but bring tissues.
“Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”
Just a lighter note of trivia, one great reason to be accepted at Harvard is to have a freshman screening of Love Story, complete with juvenile heckling throughout the entire film. I would love to be a part of that, I had to heckle this movie all by my lonesome.
The Best Picture Project 