Despite its many ludicrous moments The Way We Were (Pearl, 9.30pm) is still an effective tear-jerker. It is hard not to squirm when Robert Redford walks away from Barbra Streisand as she hands out 'Ban the Bomb' leaflets, but in 1973 this was cinema verite. And it does tell us a lot about the way we were, although many of us might not want to admit it.
For Americans this film represents instant nostalgia. For others it will bring some fun, a number of moments of vitality, and many of pure boredom.
Part of its weakness is that The Way We Were tries to do everything, covering America from the 1930s through to the 50s.
It makes a particular mess of the McCarthy witchhunt sequence and never overcomes the fundamental problem that Barbra Streisand's character, a radical Jewish student who joins every political organisation there is, is profoundly irritating.
Redford, who begins the film as a handsome college student intent on becoming a writer, and ends it as a handsome sell-out writing scripts for cheap television shows, is politically neutral and, as a character, infinitely more appealing than Streisand's bluestocking girl.
Redford and Streisand first meet, briefly, at a dance.
There is an attraction, but Streisand is the butt of jokes (what a surprise) from Redford's snobbish friends, so possible romance is put on the back burner. Years pass, World War II begins, and they meet again. But Redford, now in the armed forces, is drunk, so she takes him back to her apartment where he passes out on her bed. And so on and so forth, through three decades, until they marry and have a baby. This is the romantic half of the film.