Love Story

Yesterday I had the chance to see the movie Love Story for the first time on the big screen and I thoroughly enjoyed it!  Oliver Barrett IV (Ryan O'Neal), the son of a wealthy and prominent family, is a pre-law student at Harvard and Jenny Cavalleri (Ali MacGraw), a working class girl from Rhode Island, is a classical music student at Radcliffe when they meet and fall in love despite their differences.  When he finds out that she has a scholarship to study in Paris, he asks her to give it up and marry him.  She agrees but his father (Ray Milland) threatens to cut him off financially if he goes through with the marriage.  Despite his family's objections they get married and she struggles to put him through law school.  After Oliver graduates and gets a job with a top law firm in New York, he promises to give Jenny the life she deserves but, when fate intervenes, she tells him that she doesn't regret anything.  I was really excited to finally get a chance to see this movie because it is such a classic but I was surprised to see so many negative comments on social media about how cheesy and overly sentimental it is.  I have to admit that the line, "Love means never having to say you're sorry," is pretty lame but Oliver and Jenny are very appealing characters and I was definitely invested in their relationship.  I enjoyed the fact that Oliver is a hockey player but I especially liked Jenny as a character because she gives as good as she gets and isn't intimidated by Oliver's wealth.  I also liked the fact that she wants Oliver to reconcile with his father, not for the money, but because it is an important relationship that needs to be mended.  O'Neal and MacGraw have so much chemistry with each other and they give very affecting performances. The clothes in this movie are so timeless and I particularly liked all of Jenny's plaid skirts and tights.  Finally, I absolutely loved the main orchestral theme!  When I was a little girl I had a jewelry box that played this theme but I never knew what it was from!  Whether you saw this when it was first released 50 years ago or are experiencing it for the first time, I highly recommend seeing it on the big screen.  You have one more chance on Wednesday (go here for more information).