Surprisingly witty, tender and actually a very amusing plot, 'Same Time, Next Year' manages to glorify infidelity in a way that can't make you angry with the 2 leading stars.
Burstyn and Alda meet by chance after each having a meal alone in a lovely inn, and decide to spend the night together in Alda's holiday home. The next morning, although superficially full of regret, they both decide that they must see each other again, but not in such a regular way as a normal affair. Their rendezvous will take place at the same place and the same date each year (when Alda is away from his family in his holiday home working) and will last for one weekend only.
The basic premise of the film takes us through year after year after decade, as the couple become older, wiser, yet still totally devoted to each other. Their weekends are spent talking about their feelings, and the good and bad in their wives and husbands. It's bizarre, because you come away from the film, almost believing that they aren't doing anything wrong, when in reality they are having an affair which spans 25 years, however little time they actually spend together.
I enjoyed it, found it funny, and wasn't offended by it's carefree view of cheating (although I am usually the first to diss films where this takes place). I thought Burstyn and Alda made a terrific couple, more so because they are both so different and unlike each other.
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