I have often heard film makers and movie stars in interviews refer to a movie as being character driven. In my interpretation, I understand that to mean that the movie is going to be about extremely well fleshed out characters, and that the movies action really comes from their interaction and not jumping from cliffs are car chases. I define a well defined movie character by this simple rule. If this character was presented with a situation can I the viewer know fairly accurately how the character will react? How would Scarlet O'Hara react if stopped on the street by a northerner begging for money? If you have seen Gone With The Wind then you know the answer.
Like Gone With The Wind, The Way We Were is a love story about two well rounded and incredibly illustrated characters. Where as Gone With The Wind has grandeur, Casablanca has intrigue and When Harry Met Sally has its comic gimmick, The Way We Were is quite simply the greatest character driven love story of all time.

　　 On the surface this is simply a story of opposites attract. He, Hubble Gardner, is a popular golden boy, athlete, scholar with Robert Redford's looks. She, Katie Moraski is an intellectual forward thinking radical whose ethnic looks (Barbra Streisand's) and middle class accent make it apparent that she is not in the same circle as Hubbell and his friends.

　　 They meet in college and through a great flashback we find that they had a spark but neither was brave enough to initiate a relationship. Years later they meet without the social pressures of college and start a love affair. All is wonderful until her politics and his insecurities show back up to throw a wrench in the mix.

　　 The first few times I watched this movie I felt for Katie. She wears her insecurities on her chest like a badge for all to see. The girl who had to work her way through college. The girl that looked fondly at the popular crowd but never was a member. However, upon further viewings I came to realize that Hubbell was actually the more complex character. He hangs around the in crowd,英语影评 is the sports hero, but he admires Katie's courage to stand out from the crowd and speak her mind. As their relationship evolves so does his character. Before Katie his biggest problem was what should be the commencement theme. With Katie he is forced into defending her and going against the crowd. (not his normal territory) He is also faced with the fact that he is truly not the golden boy of his college years. His writing is not as good as he thought and he doesn't enjoy going against the grain like Katie.

　　 Good casting is always a matter of debate. Until a movie gets remade no one really knows if anyone else could play a role better. However, I would argue to my grave that Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand were absolutely perfect in there roles and no one could have done it better. Robert Redford's looks and presence were a perfect vessel for Hubble. Barbra Streisand really only fit 2 roles in her career perfectly. This one and Fanny Brice. Here her political views can easily get intertwined with her characters. In fact the reason she is so good in this movie is that half the time I do not believe there is a difference between Katie and Barbra. This head strong loud mouth that is Katie is also Barbra as per her movie persona. The definition of perfect casting.

　　 My favorite scene in this movie is the commencement dance scene where Hubbell walks over to Katie and dances with her. There is little to no dialogue but the spark of passion is incredible. If you knew nothing of these people and only watched this one scene you could still tell that this was a couple that was not only hot for each other but also had some serious issues to work out.