Love Story

Love Story (1970)

  • 57% of critics liked it
    (23 reviews)

  • 73% of users liked it
    (34,666 ratings)

In director Arthur Hiller's hit tearjerker -- based on Erich Segal's novella -- Ryan O'Neal plays Oliver Barrett IV, a comfortably off Harvard pre-law student who falls in love with Radcliffe music student Jenny Cavilleri (Ali MacGraw), a freewheeling, delightfully profane product of a… More

PG,
Directed By
Written By
Erich Segal
Genres
Drama, Romance
In Theaters
Dec 16, 1970 Wide
Paramount Pictures

Critic Reviews

  • , TIME Magazine

    Ryan O'Neal gives the character of the neon scion a warmth and vulnerability entirely missing from the bestseller.

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    Love Story is an excellent film.

  • Geoff Andrew, Time Out

    Dated before it was made.

  • Vincent Canby, New York Times

    The only really depressing thing about Love Story is the thought of all of the terrible imitations that will inevitably follow it.

  • Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

    Hiller earns our emotional response because of the way he's directed the movie.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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

  • Alice S


    MAN! MAN! I didn't LOVE this movie, but I can certainly understand its cult status as the bitterest of the sweet, chocolate-shitting, daisy-vomiting doomed romances. I'm guessing it spawned other rich boy-poor girl-DEATH stories such as "A Walk to Remember,"… More

  • Jim H


    A preppie Harvard law student falls for a lower class music student. I don't know if "Love means never having to say you're sorry" was a cliche in 1970, but it certainly is now. It's also bullshit. So is this film. The class difference between the… More

  • AJ V


    The best romantic drama of the seventies! It's sweet, tragic, dramatic, intense, and very modern too. I loved it and if you like sad romantic dramas you will love it too. I especially loved O'Neal in this movie.

  • Red L


    I better stop watching 40-year-old movies. When I see them today, they seem disappointing compared to today's movies, and there are a few of these 1970's era movies I have down-rated from my initial rating. Very simple script. Still you should see it - it made a big… More

  • Conner R


    It's exactly what it aspires to be, an extremely honest and believable romance drama. It has great dialogue and acting, the chemistry between Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw is what makes it work as well as it does. It's sort of the reason all movies like it since seem… More

Read all 18 featured audience ratings

Also available on

UltraViolet Retailers

Other Retailers

Subscription Services

Not Available
Not Available

Cast

See more (16)