Clothes-Off This is wedding movie that is less about the actual couple than it is everyone around them. So many characters are at turning points in their lives that it's difficult to keep all the story lines straight. Many of the characters are unsympathetic, but that is not necessarily a bad thing, as the movie would be dreadful if they were all nicey-nice.At the same time, unsympathetic doesn't have to be as annoying as Anne Meara's character, who is sympathetic at firs but then turns shrewish as she spits out some homophobic dialogue about her husband's manhood. (For this, I have deducted a full point in my rating, because even back then writers Joseph Bologna and Renee Taylor should have known better.) Diane Keaton fares better in her brief screen time (her character is discussed more than seen for much of the film), looking much different (and quite fabulous) but one can tell it's definitely her once she begins speaking with other characters.The film definitely deals with relationship/marital issues that are still relevant today, and I liked the way the stories were wrapped up at the end. For that reason, I say this film is still a worth see, though maybe no longer a "must see." (Although I'm sure Golden Girls fans will consider it a must to see a post-Broadway but pre-Maude Bea Arthur.)

tomgrunick I watched this movie yesterday and it's not that great.Based on a stage play, It can never get away from those stagey origins, and most of the scenes are just a couple of people sitting around talking. If it weren't for the song (NOT sung in the movie by the Carpenters, by the way) this film would be forgotten, even allowing for the many big names who star in it.As a period piece from the mid-60s it is vaguely interesting...too bad it was made in 1970, when Hollywood still thought that people talking about sex was daring.There was one good bit, though, and that was when a very young Diane Keaton is talking to Bea Arthur. Bea mentions the Bing Crosby-Ingrid Bergman film "The Bells Of St. Mary's", which Diane hadn't seen.But she does get to see it, of course, because that is the movie she is coming out of with Al Pacino in "The Godfather" when they read that Don Corleone has been shot.Skip it, or watch it on fast-forward.

gezmar Having just purchased the DVD of this movie, and not having seen it for more than ten years, I feared perhaps it would too antiquated and dated to still be worthwhile owning. This was certainly not the case.Lovers And Other Strangers is totally charming and lovable movie that despite the emphasis on the year it was made(there are many references to 1970) is still very relevant and moving. I admit to being close to tears at one scene, between a father and son, towards the end. I was also laughing out loud at many other scenes such as the hysterical Italian parents trying to scare their son into remaining in his unhappy marriage(a classic scene with hilarious dialogue you won't ever forget) and the furtive passionate embraces with the bride's father and his mistress in every available bathroom.The themes that are relevant to today is the search for love in an increasingly uncertain age. The film opens with an outpouring from the groom to be, about all his fears of the future of the world and his doubts about marriage. Today all those fears are still there plus many many more. There is also power struggles between the genders, casual sex, extra-marital affairs and the dilemma of staying in an unhappy relationship. Some of these were very new themes explored in movies at the time it was made.Having said that there are elements of the film that are charmingly dated which obviously include the music, the clothes and some of the social attitudes(it was at a time when divorce was still a disgraceful scandal for many families, particularly Catholic families). These dated elements though give it more of a nostalgic feel rather deter any enjoyment.Michael Brandon and Bonnie Bedilia are lovable as the newly weds and Bea Arthur and Richard Castellano are the hilarious parents of the groom. The whole of the ensemble cast is great and watch for Dianne Keaton's film debut as the estranged daughter-in-law.

mrcaw1 Lovers and Other Strangers (1970) Dir: Cy Howard Diane's first feature film and it's a hit! A classic early '70s comedy concerning the events leading up to and including the traditional family wedding. Diane has a small part but makes the most of it. The Carpenters' title single figures prominently in the movie and became an instant real life wedding fixture. Screenplay by sometime acting husband and wife duo Joseph Bologna and Rene Taylor (of The Nanny fame).