The idea of a film made up of three short films that are all connected through the ownership of a car sounds interesting and because of the great cast I gave the movie a look. However, despite sounding wonderful, the final product is a lot like a meal made up entirely of toast. Sure, it's filling but also very bland and unsatisfying. It just should have been a lot better.
The first segment is extremely maudlin. Rex Harrison plays a rather out of touch but decent guy who buys the car for his wife (Jeanne Moreau). However, though he loves her dearly, she is having an affair. When he eventually discovers this, the segment soon ends--and ends amazingly abruptly. Too bad, as this segment alone could have made for a decent film had it been hashed out more.
The second was intended as a comedic and romantic piece and it starred George C. Scott as a gangster, Art Carney as his sidekick, Shirley MacLaine as Scott's fiancé and Alain Delon as an Italian photographer (why they chose a French guy for this role is odd). It's a rather disjointed segment because it appears like two different films merged together. While occasionally a tad funny, the romance later in the film seemed forced and unrealistic. Not a bad effort, but rather forgettable.
As for the final segment which starred Ingrid Bergman and Omar Sharif, it was very odd. Bergman played one of the most annoying and selfish characters I have ever seen. Yet, midway through this segment, she has a HUGE turnabout and shows herself to be brave and kind--a complete 180 degree shift. Such changes are seen in film but never in real life, so it was rather fun to see but also pretty vapid and silly.
Overall, it's a time-passer and not much more. None of the three segments were especially compelling and I was left wanting so much more.
The first segment is extremely maudlin. Rex Harrison plays a rather out of touch but decent guy who buys the car for his wife (Jeanne Moreau). However, though he loves her dearly, she is having an affair. When he eventually discovers this, the segment soon ends--and ends amazingly abruptly. Too bad, as this segment alone could have made for a decent film had it been hashed out more.
The second was intended as a comedic and romantic piece and it starred George C. Scott as a gangster, Art Carney as his sidekick, Shirley MacLaine as Scott's fiancé and Alain Delon as an Italian photographer (why they chose a French guy for this role is odd). It's a rather disjointed segment because it appears like two different films merged together. While occasionally a tad funny, the romance later in the film seemed forced and unrealistic. Not a bad effort, but rather forgettable.
As for the final segment which starred Ingrid Bergman and Omar Sharif, it was very odd. Bergman played one of the most annoying and selfish characters I have ever seen. Yet, midway through this segment, she has a HUGE turnabout and shows herself to be brave and kind--a complete 180 degree shift. Such changes are seen in film but never in real life, so it was rather fun to see but also pretty vapid and silly.
Overall, it's a time-passer and not much more. None of the three segments were especially compelling and I was left wanting so much more.