Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)
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91% of critics liked it
(11 reviews) -
60% of users liked it
(1,531 ratings)
"Consider the possibilities," read the ads for Paul Mazursky's 1969 satirical comedy about what happens when the sexual revolution hits affluent bourgeois life. After a weekend of "beautiful" emotional honesty at an Esalen-type retreat, married wannabe hipsters Bob (Robert… More "Consider the possibilities," read the ads for Paul Mazursky's 1969 satirical comedy about what happens when the sexual revolution hits affluent bourgeois life. After a weekend of "beautiful" emotional honesty at an Esalen-type retreat, married wannabe hipsters Bob (Robert Culp) and Carol (Natalie Wood) return to their well-heeled Los Angeles life determined to apply the principles of free love and complete openness to their marriage. To the respective curiosity and repulsion of their married best friends, Ted (Elliott Gould) and Alice (Dyan Cannon), Bob and Carol have affairs that they happily reveal to everyone. Inspired by all that openness during the quartet's trip to Vegas, Ted admits an affair of his own, provoking the outraged Alice to demand that this new ethos be taken to its obvious conclusion: a mate-sharing foursome. Once they're bedded down and ready to go, however, they start to have second thoughts. Without sacrificing authenticity for comedy, first-time director Mazursky and co-writer/producer Larry Tucker delve into the confusion of the Eisenhower generation when faced with the temptations of the counterculture. Too old to be hippies and too young to be fogies, the would-be California swingers sincerely attempt to try on the lifestyle, but it never looks quite right. A then-controversial example of the New Permissiveness both onscreen and off, Bob & Carol debuted at the New York Film Festival to great praise, particularly for Gould and Cannon. Whether they wanted to laugh at their elders' faux looseness or see what their peers might be doing, audiences turned Bob & Carol into a substantial hit, and its observations about marriage and sex remain humorously sharp even if the encounter group jargon is past its vogue. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
- Directed By
- Paul Mazursky
- Genres
- Classics, Comedy
R,
- In Theaters
- Sep 17, 1969 Wide
- Studio
- Sony Pictures Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
The genius of Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice is that it understands the peculiar nature of the moral crisis for Americans in this age group, and understands that the way to consider it is in a comedy.
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Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
Mazursky was lucky to get four such excellent performers working on his project, for the movie lives and dies based on their ability to quietly suggest the inner workings of a human mind.
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Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
Benignly erected on knowing observation and flossy anecdote, Mazursky's cultural mood-ring merrily mingles mod flash with Old Hollywood
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Like most zeitgeist movies, Paul Mazursky's comedy about mate-swapping quickly became outdated, but it's well acted (by Elliott Gould and Dyan Cannon) and serves as a sociological document to the shifting sexual mores of the late 1960s.
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Sarah Chauncey, Reel.com
A near-perfect period piece of the late 1960s: the language, the mores, the music and, oh yes, the clothes.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
Featured Audience Ratings
Cast
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Natalie Wood
as Carol
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Robert Culp
as Bob
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Elliott Gould
as Ted
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Dyan Cannon
as Alice
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Horst Ebersberg
as Horst
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Lee Bergere
as Emilio
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Donald F. Muhich
as Psychiatrist
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Noble Lee Holderread Jr.
as Sean
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K.T. Stevens
as Phyllis
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Celeste Yarnall
as Susan
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Greg Mullavey
as Institute Group Leader
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Andre Philippe
as Oscar
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John Halloran
as Conrad
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Joyce Easton
as Wendy
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Howard Dayton
as Howard
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John Brent
as Dave
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Garry Goodrow
as Bert
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Carol O'Leary
as Sue
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Lynn Borden
as Cutter
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Linda Burton
as Stewardess
