Same Time, Next Year

A holiday romance begun in 1952 somehow stumbles over 25-plus years. Annually, the only-slightly odd couple desert their spouses and kids for a passionate weekend reunion. Every five years or so, we pick up on them and their inevitable changes, as the world spins in a montage of stills. OK, so with only two lead actors and a single location, the film wears its Broadway origins prominently on its chest, and sits somewhat anachronistically amid the movie-movie flow of New Hollywood. But for all that it's a surprisingly, refreshingly welcome throwback, with the sort of sparklingly literate dialogue it used to take an army of studio screenwriters to polish and which you rarely hear today; with two superbly versatile performances from Burstyn and Alda; and with direction from Mulligan that's the undemonstrative epitome of old-fashioned craftsmanship. And it is very funny.