The Way We Were

I was looking for the perfect chick-flick for the weekend and I stumbled accross The Way We Were, starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford (1973). And thank God there were quite a few seeders on this torrent file that I downloaded for like forever.

One of the best movies I have ever seen. If youre looking for a total feel-good tear-jerker (I dont know what that is, but I was crying the whole movie but I felt really good right after), this movie is it.

Katie: I don't have the right style for you do I?
Hubbell : No you don't have the right style.
Katie: I'll change.
Hubbell: No, don't change. You're your own girl, you have your own style.
Katie: But then I won't have you. Why can't I have you?
Hubbell: Because you push too hard, every damn minute. There's no time to ever relax and enjoy living. Every things too serious to be so serious.
Katie: If I push too hard it's because I want things to be better, I want us to be better, I want you to be better. Sure I make waves you have I mean you have to. And I'll keep making them till your everything you should be and will be. You'll never find anyone as good for you as I am, to believe in you as much as I do or to love you as much.
Hubbell: I know that.
Katie: Well then why?
Hubbell : Do you think if I come back its going to be okay by magic? What's going to change? What's going to be different? We'll both be wrong, we'll both lose.
Katie: Couldn't we both win?

Plot:

A story about star-crossed lovers Katie Morosky and Hubbell Gardiner, who meet at college in the 1930s. Their differences are immense: she is a stridently vocal Marxist Jew with strong anti-war opinions, and he is a carefree WASP with no particular political bent.

When Hubbell seeks a job as a Hollywood screenwriter, Katie believes he's wasting his talent and encourages him to pursue writing as a serious challenge instead. Despite her growing frustration, they move to California, where he becomes a successful albeit desultory screenwriter, and the couple enjoys an affluent lifestyle.

Alienated by Katie's persistent abrasiveness, Hubbell has an affair with Carol Ann, his college girlfriend and the ex-wife of his best friend J.J., even though Katie is pregnant.

Katie and Hubbell decide to part when she finally understands he is not the man she idealized when she fell in love with him and will always choose the easiest way out, whether it is cheating in his marriage or writing predictable stories for sitcoms.


Well we didnt have a happy ending on this movie. In the final scene, Katie and Hubbell meet by coincidence, several years after their divorce. Katie, now re-married, invites Hubbell to come for a drink with his lady friend, but he confesses he can't.

The most touching part for me was in the fial scene when Katie touched Hubbel's head to fix his hair. Katie's response acknowledges what they both finally understand: Hubbell was at his best when he was with her, and no one will ever believe in him or see as much promise in him as she once did. Their past is behind them; all the two share now, besides their daughter, is a memory of the way they were.

Katie: Your girl is lovely, Hubbell. Why don't you bring her for a drink when you come?
Hubbell : I can't come, Katie. I can't...
Katie : I know...

*sobs* :)