A boy and a girl from different backgrounds fall in love regardless of their upbringing – and then tragedy strikes.
“Love Story” just celebrated its 50th Anniversary and is a no-new classic to Hollywood’s revolution as a film industry. It is no wonder that Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw are forever engrained as Oliver Barrett IV and Jenny Cavilleri, respectively, despite both continuing to star in other productions. Director Arthur Hiller culminated so much vibrancy in their characters and personality that despite the now-cliché plot descriptors, “Love Story” and its main soundtrack continue to retain its status as one of the highest-grossing films of all time internationally.
Oliver Barrett IV (O’Neal) is the jock at Harvard University as a member of their hockey team, which makes him the usual suspect when it comes to having relations with women. However, he also has a hidden sensitive side that is most vulnerable when his daddy issues are prodded at, and he struggles with having to uphold the Barrett household name. He meets Jenny Cavilleri (MacGraw), a sassy and clever Radcliffe student that has the wits and quips to tease Barret into submission and eventually into love. They fall in love and get married as Oliver chooses to forgo his relationship with his father in order to sustain a loving relationship with Jenny that eventually comes to an abrupt halt when Jenny dies of an unnamed, incurable disease.
The story is ever the cliché, even more so as Hollywood continued to produce various love stories that follow along the same lines of tragedy. However, “Love Story” is not the tragedy that the ending seems to embody. Instead, it is a film that highlights the ephemeral moments that make love so beautiful. It is sappy, watching MacGraw and O’Neal roll around in the snow, make vows to each other in marriage, and curl around one another to read a book. However, the companionship and the chemistry can’t be denied in their performances – and it leaves you wishing for companionship like theirs.
“Love Story’s” re-release only celebrates that a good film doesn’t need much to be memorable and culturally impactful. A good soundtrack is one thing, but the movie is a remembrance in that love can be found in the small and simple things. “Love means never having to say you’re sorry,” as famously put by MacGraw, and there is definitely no apology needed to watch and enjoy “Love Story” over and over again.
Now available in a Limited-Edition Blu-ray™
