Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

This film ranks 65th on the BFI's Top 100, with Peter Finch, Glenda Jackson, John Schlesinger, and Penelope Gilliatt receiving Oscar nominations for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Writing, (Story and Screenplay), respectively.Dr. Daniel Hirsh (Peter Finch) and Alex Greville (Glenda Jackson) share the same phone answering service and the same lover, Bob Elkin (Murray Head). They both know about their competitive positions in this love triangle and begrudgingly accept them. I read most of the rave IMDb User Comments about the 'bravery' of Finch to take on this homosexual role and Schlesinger to openly show it, as well the new twist on the 'love triangle' theme. However, I would hope that the movie has something more to offer than just being a cultural ground breaker. That, alone, would NOT make the movie a masterpiece. What DOES make it a minor masterpiece is the character study of the three principals and the underlying rationale that drives Daniel and Alex to put up with sharing a common lover at all, no matter what his or her sexual orientation is. Alex says something like 'sometimes I think it is better to have half of anything rather than all of nothing' and Daniel, through his actions, says much the same thing. But, Alex seems to be paralyzed to commit to love again after her former marriage. As her mother (played by Peggy Ashcroft) says, 'Darling you keep throwing your hand in because you're waiting for the whole thing. There IS no whole thing.'Daniel, an up-scale London physician, is a caring family man, shown by his appearance at his nephew's bar mitzvah. Daniel is forced to keep his private life private. (At the time this movie was made, it would have been hard to be a gay up-scale London physician.) Bob, the fulcrum of the triangle, seems to have everything going for him that his two partners don't: if each of them have half of him, he has both of them. That's not to say that he isn't loving and supportive to both. He is..to a point. Bob isn't bad. He is just young, attractive, and free from social restraints—an enviable position in this triangle.The vehicle for the main story line centers around a weekend where Alex and Bob are able to be 'ALONE' together by taking care of a progressive couple's five children as the couple goes out of town to a lecture. Some of the family's pseudo-progressiveness serves to give us both comic relief and anxious moments. The story is a well-told character study, with quick flashbacks to show some of Daniel's and Alex's thoughts and memories to illustrate where they are coming from in their present situations.

What amazes me the most is the portrait of all the characters. So natural, so... real (so uncomfortable, isn't?). In this motion picture, sir, everybody is civilized. There are no clichés or fake morality. Alex (Glenda) and Daniel (Peter) are devastaded inside, but they keep on moving... Divorce doesn't mean that your companion and all the memories of his/her died. And this movie shows it. Shows also that Bob (Murray), the lover in common, doesn't know how to love... he does it like 80% of the people in this world (young people mainly): childishly, one- dimensionally, conducted by his genital. This movie is for grown-ups. Mentally speaking, of course. The maturity of Glenda and Peter contrasted by the naive handsome looks of Murray was what Schlesinger gave us. Pay attention to it. Pay attention to the title. Glenda, Peter and Schlesinger are/were all geniuses. By the way, I am a 22 year old Brazilian who identifies a lot with Schlesinger work, specially "Midnight Cowboy".

Difficult to believe that this brilliant little film is 41 years old because it still feels fresh and vibrant the way his other films remain (Midnight Cowboy, Billy Liar, Darling, etc). It is as mature an examination of love in all its aspects as any film that has been placed on the screen since. The acting by an impeccable cast and the cinematography are first rate, but it is Schlesinger's sure hand that carved this story into our memories.Divorced workingwoman Alex (Glenda Jackson) and well-to-do Jewish family doctor Daniel Hirsh (Peter Finch) share not only the same answering service but also the sexual favors of the young handsome artist Bob Elkin (Murray Head) who bed-hops between them as the mood takes him. Both Alex and Dr Hirsh are aware of the other's existence but prefer to live with the situation rather than risk losing Elkin completely. But a wet winter weekend in London can be difficult. Exceptional cameo roles are filled by Peggy Ashcroft as the doctor's mother and by Richard Loncraine as Bob's partner and Jon Finch who manages to epitomize the London street hustler.There have been several films that have attempted to take on the matter of ménage a trois tales but none has approached the subject of the complexities of romantic relationships with the style and aplomb achieved here. It is a masterwork. Grady Harp

Beyond the obvious nonconforming romantic relationships, I cannot see that this film has much of a point. Maybe I'm just not that interested in the characters. They are boring, and their tedious lives seem dull and drab. Dr. Hirsh (Peter Finch) is stiff and starched. Alex (Glenda Jackson) at least expresses some emotion, but she is far too accepting of her dilemma. And Bob Elkin, gigolo artiste, has all the emotional depth of a slab of concrete. Why would Dr. Hirsh and Alex put up with someone like that? The plot would be stronger if Dr. Hirsh and Alex had more screen time with each other, various confabs, to rev up the story's conflict.The script places way too much emphasis on day to day routines, that contribute little or nothing to the story's bisexual, experimental theme. For example, the redundant switchboard operator scenes come across as filler. And I never did see the point of the scenes with all those children. Such story contrivances extend the film's runtime way beyond its thematic value. As a result, the story is loose and lacks focus, basically just a day-in-the-life-of saga. The film's pace is excruciatingly slow.About the best that I can say for this film is that the performances of Peter Finch and Glenda Jackson are quite good. And the film's production design is lavish.I suppose that in its day the film's theme was considered daring. But "Sunday Bloody Sunday" has not aged well. By today's standards, its theme is tame, and that makes all that perfunctory, day-to-day behavior the characters engage in, just that much more bland and boring.