What makes it different from others?

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Disappointment for a huge fan!

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

For a good part of 2010,a family friend would mention to me how when ever he sees an interview with Dustin Hoffman,this film seems to never be mentioned at all,even though it was made during the "Golden Decade" (the 70s")and that it also has a very good cast & crew.So,around November I went looking round for the film as a Christmas present.And though it has sadly not come out in the UK,I was luckily able to find a copy of the film from the states.When it arrived,I felt that since it had taken a good amount of time to find the film,that it was worth watching to see what it was all about. The plot:After having spent the night together,two people (John and Mary,who both don't know each others names)wake up in bed together.When they both go down stairs,so John can cook some breakfast,they both start to think of each other in a very cynical way.This is because they both usually run off right away after having spent the night with someone,which is partly done,because they have had some very disappointing relationships in the past.As Mary starts to see how much of a "boring" bachelor lifestyle John has (staying inside,cooking and listening to Brass Band music as he looks out of his windows )Whilst she mainly wants to be a very outgoing type of person.Though she stays round at Johns place a lot longer than she would have anticipated (which she decides to use,to ask him about some of his past relationships.)And at the point,where it seems that both of them might like the relationship to keep going and to become more meaningful,Mary suddenly disappears!.Although John knows what part of the city she lives in (although he has not got the flats number,or address.)Since he did not think of taking a photo of her,or asking what her name is,the only thing that John does know,is that it is going to be a very long night,on his search to meet Mary again. View on the film:One of the things that stuck out most to me about the film,was how surprisingly quiet director Peter Yates (who sadly died just two days after I had viewed this great film) had made the film.Yates does very well at showing the slight nervous awkwardness that the two main characters have around each other when they awake,with hints given with the mood of the film,that they both perhaps,would like this to be a deeper relationship.With the screenplay by John Mortimer (which is based on the book by Mervin Jones) giving John and Mary some excellently cynical lines,especially in the clever narration of the film,which is done so the whole audience knows what they both REALLY think of each other (and oddly,I feel that parts of the narration in the film,may have inspired some scenes of the excellent anti- ROM-com film (500) Days of Summer.)With a good portion of the film being set in one flat,the performances of Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow make the small flat,almost feel like a mansion.Hoffman first shows John as someone who is completely happy with their routine in life,into some one who seems to really be trying to get out of his comfort zone,when it seems that he might be about to lose something special.For her performance,Farrow does really well at showing Marys outgoing personality change,as she starts to realise that she really likes John,and that she does not need to pressurise him in a forceful way.Final view on the film:An excellent,"quiet" movie,with some witty lines,two very good leads and great directing from the late Peter Yates.

"It's Not Your Mother's Love Story," the ads for "John and Mary" proclaimed, and I suppose that back in 1969, such indeed was the case. Telling the story of a one-night stand and the rainy day after, as the couple in question gets to know one another in the guy's spacious apartment at 52 Riverside Drive (in actuality, a 15-floor, redbrick building at 78th St. whose asking price today must be astronomical!), the film certainly must have engendered some controversy, back when. Fortunately, this sweet, realistic, adult slice of life, though certainly a product of its time, is not as dated as one might expect, and the tentative, uncertain steps that John and Mary (whose names we never know until the picture's final moments) take when learning about each other should seem familiar to even Gen Y'ers. This process of discovery is accomplished mainly through talk, but the viewer gets to know the two characters even better, via flashbacks, fantasy sequences and their voiced-over thoughts. In the leads, Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow are quite fine, and director Peter Yates brings his picture in with great sensitivity. The trio had recently participated in three enormously successful films--"The Graduate," "Rosemary's Baby" and "Bullitt," respectively--and while "John and Mary" is certainly a smaller film than those others, it is still of great interest. Hoffman and Farrow were immensely ingratiating screen presences at this early stage of their careers, and their unique pairing here makes this film something special. And speaking of early-career performances, "John and Mary" also features Tyne Daly, Cleavon Little and Olympia Dukakis, all in small but amusing parts. Anyway, it is my feeling that viewers of this film will gradually come to really like John and Mary, and root for them as a couple, and wish them many more nights together....

A single man and woman, having met in a bar the night before, wake up together in bed "the morning after" but can't decide where to go from there. Two charismatic leads (Dustin Hoffman just after "The Graduate" and Mia Farrow post-"Rosemary's Baby") try enlightening a terribly flat screenplay, but the sluggish narrative and sterile atmosphere make it impossible. The fluid flashbacks and flights-of-fancy help fill in the gaps, but the problem is the main characters and their dialogue. Farrow's Mary is all over the place: guarded and vague (and a little rude), and then sheepish and huggable; Hoffman's John is suspicious and cynical, but yielding. Some of their thoughts and emotions ring true, but the follow-up to all this is pure fantasy. "John and Mary" could certainly use a little whimsy--yet after all that fashionable cynicism, the old-fashioned finale is rather tough to swallow. ** from ****

I know, this is just a small movie, but one that I'm able to see again and again, mainly because of little things as the bright blue sky upon Mia Farrow eating an apple or the original egg-cups in Dustin Hoffman's kitchen. It's difficult to explain but I love every moment of this movie without a strong reason: this is to me as an old family photo, not perfect, but still so dear... Then: good actors, original script, with refreshing ironic touches, and really beautiful set.