A brilliant film that helped define a genre

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

SPOILER ALERT:This movie is brilliant. Sure, if you're looking for action, or fast speech, or melodrama, it's not for you. This quiet, absorbing film leads you on an emotional journey through the souls of two people that ends up touching your own. Thoughtful, not preachy, it examines the human spirit at its best and worst, in a sylvan setting that echoes many people's Christmas dreams. Essentially it celebrates our ability to rise above sadness and to remain open to others in this world while still embracing our principles. A moving, year-round movie with a sad and yet ultimately softly triumphant ending.

Something I learned in this movie has helped me avoid the temptation to have an affair. Even though Lloyd Bridges' wife is ill, (I think she was mentally ill, and would never love him again) and the alluring Shirley Jones is there for the taking; Lloyd stays with his wife. As he put it "How important it is to have someone to REMEMBER WITH. Without her, I have no past." Each time I think about this movie, I realize that my spouse is irreplaceable...and I love her more and more. There are lots of pretty faces and pretty bodies "out there", but you'll be happier if you stay with what you have.

I've loved this TV movie from the first time I saw it. The reason I now think of it as a "guilty pleasure" is that, since it was made in 1969, it's now quite dated and I think I'd be embarrassed now if I were caught watching the characters in their dated clothes, language, etc. But underneath the surface, it is a very mature, compassionate and moving story. Very touching. The sex scenes are almost hard to watch, they're so intimate and real. I think it's a timeless story. Lloyd Bridges was a hunk!!

The film is watchable, especially if you have a soft spot for homey New England countryside in wintertime, or for Lloyd Bridges or Shirley Jones in fairly small roles. They circle each other, she: self-depriving and disciplined by principle, stunted socially; he: rougish in a restrained and admirable sort of way, but refusing to divulge a lie to her.There is a hilarious scene in which John Sparrow (Lloyd Bridges) takes an afternoon jaunt on a Ski-Doo snowmobile, tearing around, laughing out loud and bailing out. This fad must have been in full swing in 1969 but looks bizarre and forced as an 'amusement' activity now! Later they take a picture perfect sleighride through Robert Frost country and you wish you were along.Post-Airplane, it's indeed hard to see Lloyd Bridges open a bottle of scotch whiskey without saying aloud "Looks like I picked the wrong week to give up drinking!" Seeing son Jeff Bridges play Lloyd in a flashback to his college days (scene is shot inside the old Amherst College "Cage" basketball gymnasium) is fun. Carrie Snodgress appears as a student with her boyfriend, who admonish John and Katherine as the "establishment types" for their old tired ethics, and all share in the merriment of the season....Cloris Leachman is wonderful in a cameo as the townie whom John may or may not recall from his past.Nice film to watch at Christmastime -- the action all unfolds in the day or two before Christmas, and resolves on Christmas morning.