Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice Reviews

Written by Mazursky and Tucker, this very funny movie about mate-swapping spoke to the condition of moviegoers in 1969, but it has quickly become dated. Bob (Culp) and Carol (Wood) and Ted (Gould) and Alice (Cannon) are best friends. Culp and Wood visit a psycho-babble retreat in California and come home spouting all sorts of funny "Love Generation" dogma. Wood has an affair with a tennis pro, and Culp, living up to his new standards, congratulates her. Cannon is the most conservative of the group, but when Gould admits that he had an affair, she suggests the four have an orgy during their trip to Las Vegas. Culp and Wood and Gould and Cannon do indeed end up in bed together, but none of them knows where to start. The funniest scene in the picture is one in which Gould is wildly turned on and Cannon is anything but. The dialog is wonderful, but at times director Mazursky sacrifices the human element of his story to indulgent camerawork. Andre Phillipe plays Oscar here; if you look hard in most of Mazursky's films, you'll see him in some small role. Gould and Cannon were nominated for Academy Awards, as was the story and cinematography.