MovieChat Forums > Love Story (1970) Discussion > Problems with the Movie

Problems with the Movie

posted 18 years ago by french_rockin_dancer
20 replies | jump to latest

1. Why did Jenny have to give up her dreams to stay with Oliver? She supported him through law school, but why couldn't he support her through college? Or why couldn't she go to France for a year and then they get married? If their love was that strong, her going to France would not break them up. Also, even though she decided to have a baby and not continue her career or education, at the end, she talks about how she couldn't remember her studies from college, showing she has some regrets about not finishing her goals.

2. Did they really have to get married right away? Their problems would have been solved if he would had waited to marry her after law school. He could still lived with her ( and they had no moral problem with that, since they had sex before marriage), get the money he needed, and she could finish her studies.

These points are similar, but I just have a problem that the woman had to support the man. This movie always makes me angry when it comes to Jenny and her dreams.

[–] isaacsgs-1 18 years ago

Well, given that her skillset was that of a teacher or musician and his skillset was law. Now whose skillset pays off the best in the long run?

[–] soze_umama 18 years ago

Good point(s).

Maybe the direction that the story takes echos Erich Segal's world view. In the scenario described, neither of them is bright enough to realize that it is to their advantage for both of them to be as much as they are capable of being.

Dropping everything she planned on doing to take on the role of housewife and mother makes me wonder what this character's real goals were to begin with...

[–] toyguy 18 years ago

I think we have to look at this from the audience's point of view. We know that Jenny will die at the very young age of 25. We know that from the movie's prologue. So it was an issue of them having loved and lost, as oppose to losing a couple of years together while Jenny goes off to France.

With the plot of the movie aside, I agree that Olie could have supported Jenny to finish her school career after he's "made it big" as a lawyer. Had she lived, that is.

[–] IAmTondelayo 17 years ago

She didn't have to give up her dreams, she chose to. When Oliver was talking to his friend, he said that he wanted Jenny to go to Julliard, but she wanted to have a baby. He was willing to support her while she went back to school. And I don't think they wanted to be separated for a year so she could go to France.

About them living together, it was 1970. Even though they had sex before marriage, living together was an entirely different thing, and not commonly accepted in society like it was 10-15 later.

As far as her not remembering things she learned in college, I think that was to show how she was deteriorating health-wise. She was very ill at that point, and I think they just put that in to demonstrate just how ill.

Just my 2 cents...

I wish Cotton was a monkey, I wish Cotton was a monkey...

[–] skynyd 17 years ago

Your comments are very perceptive. As a teenager when this movie came out I can tell you that it was an accepted thing for the woman to support the man in a college-age couple, and that frequently women did not pursue the career they were educated for once they started their families.
I'm not saying that's good or bad, only how it once was. My brother-in-law was supported through medical school in the 1970s by his wife (they met in college) and then once his practice was up and running, he supported them while she went on to get a master's in psych. It was an agreement they had, it worked for them and they are still together, happy and fulfilled people with children 35 years later.
Who knows how it would have been for Ollie and Jen if she had lived? Certainly the movie told us that she would be a stay at home mom, but also that was what she wanted. Remember that as she lay dying Jenni was prepared to kick Oliver out of her hospital room if he kept feeling that he'd cheated her out of Paris, her career ect. They made the decisions they made not knowing how much time they had. That, I think, is what makes the film still so poignant and powerful today.

[–] QuinnFanshawe 17 years ago

At the end of the book, Olivers hugs his father and starts crying at the front of the door; it happens so fast, oliver even don't think about anything. Why the hell it isn't in the movie? And Ali Mcgraw is awful. Her nostrils and mouth moves all the time.

[–] marbleann 17 years ago

Wasn't the book written after the movie was made? Or am I thinking about another movie That might be why that scene was not in the movie God it was over 35 years ago And I was made to read the book. LOL I agree with your assessment of Ali MacGraw, She was completely wrong for the part, she was 32 way too old for that part and a bad actress. But it helps when your hubby runs the movie studio. I couldn't care a less when she died. I swear I felt good that he got rid of her,

[–] chuckali 17 years ago

Ali MacGraw's star presence was the reason the movie was so hot. The world was in love with her then and she received everything good that fame had to offer with that role including a cover on "Time" magazine, Golden Globe award and Academy Award nomination. The movie became the highest grossing movie of all time after the long runs of "Gone with the Wind" and "Sound of Music" which had been released several times.....so problems with the movie.....history assures there was NONE.....and just because Ali did not want to or live up that early success does not mean that it didn't happen. In 1970-71 Ali's talent was never in question.....

[–] gosh717 17 years ago

Now, Ryan O'Neal I have a problem with...he is one god-awful actor. He was pretty to look at, but you get the sense that he's dumb as a post. Like Clark Gable--both "movie stars", without having a true gift or talent for acting, but enough star power to command the big bucks, in their heydays.

I don't hate this movie--it's pretty good in parts--but some of the dialogue between the two leads is just cringe-inducing and/or makes you laugh out loud in embarrassment for them having to say those lines with straight faces.

[–] toyguy 17 years ago

I think its all a matter of perspective, and whether you were a fan of the movie or not. I'm a sucker for this type of movie. I also loved the 60s version of Romeo and Juliet (starring Leonard Whiting & Olivia Hussey), and also the Romeo+Juliet 'modern' remake too. But I hated Titanic and English Patient.

Anyway, back on topic of Love Story. I don't think Jennifer is a major 'babe' or anything, nor is Oliver a total hunk (but that's speaking from a guy's POV). And I don't know what calibre of acting is required here. But as long as there's chemistry between the two leads, I feel like I really care for those characters. Their relationship went through so much difficulties but they made it. I felt a strong empathy for them as I watched the movie for the first time. I guess that's what makes you a fan, there's no right or wrong about it.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] bodecia 17 years ago

The Book was written after the movie.

[–] chuckali 17 years ago

The book was not written after the movie. Because the book was so popular they made it into a movie.

[–] cjones-15 17 years ago

In "The Kid Stays in the Picture" (the film, I don't know about the book), Robert Evans asserts that "Love Story" the book was written after the film had gone in to production. The book was released and became a best seller after the movie had completed filming and was in the editing stages, but before the film was released. The book from it's very first release included a "Soon to be a major motion picture from Paramount Pictures" advertisement with a still of Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal from the film.

[–] Gig1957 10 years ago

Love Story is a 1970 romance novel by American writer Erich Segal. The book's origins lay in a screenplay that Segal wrote, and that was subsequently approved for production by Paramount Pictures. Paramount requested that Segal adapt the story into novel form as a preview of sorts for the film. The novel was released on February 14, 1970, Valentine's Day. Portions of the story originally appeared in The Ladies' Home Journal.[1][clarification needed] Love Story became the top-selling work of fiction for all of 1970 in the United States, and was translated into more than 20 languages. The novel stayed for 41 weeks in The New York Times Best Seller list, reaching the top spot. A sequel, Oliver's Story, was published in 1977. The film (Love Story) was released on December 16, 1970.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Story_(novel)

Everyone in the world is crazy, only the sanest of us admit it! ~Gig~

[–] blackbirrd 17 years ago

the movie is about love. it is supposed to tell you about love in the most simple and pure way. i loved it. i am a feminist and i didn't see anything wrong with the issues you are addressing. they loved each other so much they could not be without each other and they chose not to, jenny didn't mind staying with oliver, it was her choice- don't you remember what she tells him when she finds out she has cancer and he tells her he wants to take her to france? she is glad from her decision. their love was clearly stronger than a desire for a career or expensive life-style. the story shows that somometimes it may be too late, and that if you have such great love you have to grab it and hold on to it, live like it these are your last days.

i always thought the movie was based on the book but it could be the other way around. either way i prefered the movie. i thought the acting was brilliant and i think it wouldn't work as well with any other actors. the chemistry between the two was the best i have ever seen on screen (in romantic movies anyway).

[–] toyguy 17 years ago

I am almost sure that the novel came before the book. Gotta go back and check out the special features on my dvd, but I thought the director mentioned that he had to acquire the rights to the story or something like that.

[–] xtopherson 16 years ago

Once again -- In "The Kid Stays in the Picture" (the film, I don't know about the book), Robert Evans asserts that "Love Story" the book was written after the film had gone in to production. The book was released and became a best seller after the movie had completed filming and was in the editing stages, but before the film was released. The book from it's very first release included a "Soon to be a major motion picture from Paramount Pictures" advertisement with a still of Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal from the film.

[–] lroy77 13 years ago

Okay, so let's consider this scenario...suppose Jennifer DID go to Paris. She still would've been terminally ill--in a foreign country--yet. She wouldn't have been able to pursue her artistic ambitions for long. If she had DIED in Paris, with her own personal finances it would've been a logistical nightmare and probably cost prohibited for her to come home to be buried.

And she and Oliver were sleeping together anyway, so what if she DID get pregnant, then went to Paris.

I know I'm thinking of situations that didn't exist, but these "could've" been major problems for me.

I'm assuming she ended up buried next to her mother.

[–] yjk316 11 years ago

They met in their senior year in college and Jenny died soon after Oliver began working for the law firm. And she was 25 when she died. So she didn't have a lot of time. Spending a year or two in Paris would have made their relationship impossible to continue.