The Affair (1973)

An attorney (Robert Wagner) falls in love with a songwriter (Natalie Wood) crippled by childhood polio. Their relationship is hampered by the fact that she is emotionally shut off as well. Directed by Gilbert Cates (I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER), this turgid romance runs a brief hour and 14 minutes but it seems to go on forever. The script by Barbara Turner is overflowing with cliches and both Wood and Wagner are defeated by the lines they're required to speak. The tone set by the beginning of the film tips its hand that this is a romance that won't work out and indeed, the lovers seem ill at ease throughout the film. Never once is there a feeling of passion or of a great romance and without either, what we're left with is a downer without any insight into an ill matched pair. For Natalie Wood fans only. With Bruce Davison, Kent Smith, Frances Reid and Pat Harrington Jr.