Synopsis:

An architect and his wife look back over their twelve years of marriage. Stylish, unique look at marriage, with great star performances.
Rating:
 

Critics:

"Two for the Road" is a masterpiece, although I believe this cult movie is not for everybody. Written by Frederic Raphael, this great road movie directed by Stanley Donen has a clever, sometimes cynical, sometimes romantic view on modern marriage and shows how a relationship changes over the years. I love the final moment where Hepburn and Finney, reconciled, look lovingly at each other in the car and he sights, 'Bitch.' She snaps, 'Bastard.' It's like a private joke that only can be made between people who really love each other, even if the joke is their own marriage."
"It's an amazing and surprising story by and for grown ups and unfortunately not all fans of Audrey Hepburn seem to like "Two for the Road." Note that the interesting nonlinear construction, in which the road seems to be the metaphor of life, is uncommon in the American movie history and I think many people are not accustomed with it. Never confused, always insightfull, the different trips Joanna and Mark Wallace do in three different stages of their life and the continual cross-cutting and flashing backwards and forwards from one period to the other show the original and bright construction of this movie. From a young girl to a mature woman, Audrey Hepburn is amazing in her ability to portray a wife in different stages of a marriage and it's interesting to see that Albert Finney seems to remain the same as the director moves from scene to scene. Only Audrey changes. Perhaps this is the only flaw of this movie. We could speculate that "Two for the Road" had some influence from the French "nouvelle vague" construction and, in my opinion, this is the best movie of director Stanley Donen and he would later describe the role of Joana Wallace as the best performance of Audrey Hepburn. Also, we should never forget the great score, by Henri Mancini."

"Audrey Hepburn once said: "Two for the Road happens to contain one of my favorite scenes in all my movies. That business about changing outfits in the car. That's something I've done in real life. Also that incident about sneaking food into the hotel because the dining room's so expensive, only to find out later that the meals would have been included in the price of the stay. That's happened too. As for the picture itself, I must confess to having been uncertain about taking on the role, but it was Stanley who, through sheer persistence, convinced me to accept it. Freddie Raphael had done a brilliant script, perhaps one that was slightly ahead of its time. It was extremely sophisticated, both in its exploration of the various stages of the man's and woman's infatuation with one another and in the way the story played itself out backward and forward in time. I can't help but think that if the movie were to come out today, it might be more successful than it was. But who really knows about these things?" On it's own "Two for the Road" is an unforgettable film that has stood the test of time and remains a favorite for generations of moviegoers." - Flavio
 

"Two for the Road is perhaps the best American movie of 1967, even with its occasional lapses into Hollywood formula lushness. But overlooking its oversized budget and some of Director Stanley Donen's self-conscious camera trickeries, you will be rewarded with a moving, disturbing, strikingly adult comment on modern marriage, written by Frederic Raphael, and by two of the most brilliant performances - by Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney - ever captured on the screen. Hepburn and Finney are such a dream combination that they visually achieve such revelations of character, atmosphere, and emotion that their freshness and originality give the film a kind of vitality and continuance that seems easy. It is only much later that their brilliance begins to overtake you. They are aided, of course, by Raphael's script - funny, warm, juicy, rich - with serious undertones of now people and now relationships." - Rex Reed, Big Screen, Little Screen

"A breezy trip through married life with Audrey Hepburn's superb performance carrying stodgy Albert Finney most of the way. What must have been a tremendous challenge to producer-director Stanley Donen is the script dreamed up by Frederic Raphael, which has the same married couple, making basically the same trip, from London to the Riviera, at three different stages of their life with continual cross-cutting and flashing backwards and forwards from one period to the other. The credibility of the changes in periods is left, except for the changes in costume and vehicular equipment, to the two leads. Finney remains the same throughout, but Miss Hepburn is amazing in her ability to portray a very young girl, a just-pregnant wife of two years, and a beginning-to-be-bored wife of five years. Helped partially by variations in her hairdos but mostly by her facial expressions, she's completely believable, lovable and totally delightful. A major asset in the score by Henry Mancini, one of the most romantic he's done to date. A refreshing change is that there's no title tune sung during the credits."- "Robe.", Variety
 

Cast:

Audrey Hepburn: Joanna Wallace
Albert Finney: Mark Wallace
Eleanor Bron: Cathy Manchester
William Daniels: Howard Manchester
Claude Dauphin: Maurice Dalbret
Georges Descrieres: David
Nadia Gray: Francoise Dalbret
Gabrielle Middleton: Ruth
 

Credits:

Producer-Director: Stanley Donen
Associate Producer: Jimmy Ware
Production Executive: Arthur Carrol
Screenwriter: Frederic Raphael
Cinematographer: Christopher Challis
Editors: Richard marden and Madeleine Gug
Art Directors: Willy Holt and Marc Frederix
Miss Hepburn's wardrobe: Ken Scott, Michele Rosier, Paco Rabanne, Mary Quant, and Foale and Tuffin
Music: Henry Mancini
Running time: 112 minutes
 

Awards:

Academy

Nominee:
Best Original Screenplay: Frederic Raphael
 

Golden Globe Award

Nominee:
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical: Audrey Hepburn
Best Original Score - Motion Picture: Henry Mancini
 

San Sebastián Film Festival

Winner:
Golden Seashell: Stanley Donen