Film Review: Love Story (1970)
Robert Evans, the mercurial head of Paramount Pictures during the late 1960s and early 1970s, is widely recognised as one of the architects of the New Hollywood movement. His tenure was instrumental in producing a string of grand, gritty classics that defined the era, from The Godfather to Chinatown. However, Evans often cited Love Story, released in 1970, as his personal triumph. It is a fascinating paradox that this film, despite becoming arguably the most iconic piece of early 1970s popular culture, is largely considered an outsider to the New Hollywood experiment. While the movement was characterised by a break from traditional studio formula, a focus on moral ambiguity, and a rejection of idealism, Love Story is frequently described by critics and historians as a Classic Hollywood relic. It stands as the antithesis of the New Hollywood spirit, relying on old-fashioned melodrama and unapologetic sentimentality rather than the gritty realism that Evans helped foster.
The genesis of Love Story lies in the screenplay by Erich Segal. A Harvard-educated classicist and educator, Segal was dabbling in screenplays when he received advice from his agent to adapt his still-unproduced script into a novel. Originally released on Valentine’s Day in 1970, the novel became an instant bestseller and served as a powerful marketing tool for the film, which followed in November of the same year. This strategy highlights the film's reliance on pre-existing emotional investment from its audience.
The narrative introduces us to Oliver Barrett IV, played by Ryan O’Neal, the scion of a wealthy and influential WASP family. In a brief prologue where his character sits alone in a park summarising the plot, the film establishes its tone—narrative exposition delivered by the protagonist himself. From there, the story follows Oliver as an overachieving Harvard College student and hockey jock. His future, facilitated by his father Oliver Barrett III (Ray Milland), appears secure via Harvard Law School. However, his world is upended when he borrows a book from the library and meets Jennifer Cavalleri (Ali McGraw). She is a quick-witted Radcliffe student from a working-class Italian American family. Oliver is immediately smitten. Their relationship blossoms despite the scepticism of Oliver’s classmates. To prevent separation upon graduation, Oliver proposes marriage. His father, however, vehemently disapproves, viewing Jenny as unfit for his son's station and cutting off his financial support. Undeterred, Oliver and Jenny marry, plunging themselves into poverty by renting poor apartments and taking odd jobs. Yet, Oliver manages to graduate law school and secure a position at a prestigious New York firm. Just as his professional life seems to be aligning, their happiness is catastrophically interrupted by devastating news regarding Jenny's health.
Love Story was a monumental commercial success. Produced by Paramount, it was the biggest box office hit of 1970. For Robert Evans, it was a triumph that confirmed his wife Ali McGraw’s status as a grand Hollywood star; she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, and the film itself took home the Golden Globe for the same category. The success was all the more impressive considering the lukewarm reception from critics. Many reviews were unenthusiastic, with some going so far as to mock the film as a relic of the ultra-sentimental tragic melodramas that Hollywood had largely abandoned in the 1960s in favour of more sophisticated storytelling.
To a certain degree, this criticism is entirely valid. From a contemporary perspective, Love Story looks unremarkable. It is a very simple and unambitious film that often looks indistinguishable from high-quality television production of the era. Stylistically, it pays mere lip service to modern trends, and its content—despite a few mild swearwords and the protagonists explicitly stating their atheist beliefs or making a single reference to the Beatles—feels distinctly "normie" and traditionalist. It lacks the technical daring and visual experimentation that defined much of the New Hollywood cinema of the same period.
What elevates the film from being a complete washout is primarily its likeable and emotional musical soundtrack by Francis Lai. The score won an Academy Award and its main theme was covered as a song by numerous artists, most notably Andy Williams. The music provides the necessary emotional glue that holds the thin narrative together, turning a standard soap opera into a sweeping romantic tragedy that resonated with the public. The acting is solid throughout. Ryan O'Neal, who had built his career on television in the previous decades, delivers a competent performance as the bona fide film star. He possesses decent chemistry with Ali McGraw, grounding their relationship in a believable, if somewhat formulaic, attraction. Classic Hollywood veteran Ray Milland is effective, though he doesn't have much to work with; his role as the emotionally distant father is somewhat one-dimensional. In contrast, John Marley delivers a more memorable performance as Jenny’s father, Phil, bringing a necessary warmth and grit to the film. Young Tommy Lee Jones, who was actually a Harvard alumni and reportedly inspired part of Oliver’s character, appears in a small role credited as "Tom Lee Jones," playing one of Oliver’s roommates.
Nevertheless, Arthur Hiller’s direction remains dry and unremarkable. The film’s enduring success is often explained as a reaction to the cynicism, bleakness, and excesses of the late 1960s Sexual Revolution and the social turmoil of the Vietnam War era. Love Story was seen as an old-school melodrama that audiences, for one reason or another, desperately needed. This included even the Baby Boomers, who were supposedly destined to reject such traditional fare. As an unapologetic tear-jerker, it paved the way for the high-budget romantic dramas that would dominate the next few decades and what is now colloquially referred to as the "chick flick."
The effects of the film on popular culture were extensive, ranging from numerous remakes in Indian cinema to countless references in other works of fiction. Perhaps the most famous legacy is the line "Love means never having to say you're sorry," which remains one of the most popular movie quotes of all time. Additionally, "Jennifer" became the most popular female baby name in the United States, remaining so for 14 years.
Despite this massive cultural footprint, the success of the film was never repeated. Erich Segal wrote a sequel in 1978 called Oliver's Story, which was adapted into an eponymous film starring Ryan O'Neal. Both the novel and the film were considered failures, unable to recapture the lightning in a bottle that made the original such a phenomenon. While Love Story remains a touchstone of 1970s cinema, its legacy is that of a perfect storm of timing, marketing, and nostalgia that has not been replicated in the years since.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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