Very well executed

Too many fans seem to be blown away

Am I Missing Something?

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

I was very excited for this film. Being an ardent admirer of Natalie Wood and Loving seeing her paired with her husband I expected this to be a sweepingly romantic and wonderful movie. I was absolutely wrong. The movie began beautifully and Immediately after the romance and bliss started, the whole shot itself in the head and died.It's the story of Courtney, (played by Natalie) a 32 year old musician and polio survivor who has never been loved, never given herself to anyone and meets a man called Marcus (played by Robert Wagner) who changes all of that for her. They fall in love, she loses her virginity to him and they become serious. He is divorced and has two boys around the ages of 8 and 9. The boys loathe her for absolutely no reason. And constantly refer to her as "she" as tho she were a dog or a cat that no one wanted. After a few months Marcus's Ex wife remarries and he is so broken by this that he tells Courtney that he "can't handle it anymore", (he never says what it is) and leaves her. The next day she drives up to her brother's home, sees his brother's girlfriend is very happy and very pregnant, becomes upset by this, has a nervous breakdown and breaks a glass in her hand cutting herself to bits and almost bleeding to death. She ends up in the hospital. The movie ends with her moving in with her brother and never finding love again.Basically the movie teaches that if you're over 30 and never had love that there is no hope of you being happy and even if you do find love you won't be able to keep it because anyone over 30 is damaged goods and undesirable for long term or happy relationships Very stupid storyline. If you were hoping for a sweepingly romantic film that makes you feel light and fluffy at the end? Don't watch this movie. Instead of being all laughter and happiness after watching this film, You'll come away feeling like a deflated balloon. Don't waste your time.

You have to give Natalie Wood credit for trying a different type of role in this poorly written T.V. movie where the hero and heroine have such sudden change of moods, you'd think that somebody would have come up with the term "Bi-Polar" long before it entered the English language. Ms. Wood, so self-aware of her short-comings as an actress, was noted for showing up to accept her award for winning "Worst Actress of the Year" for several films during the 1960's, and yet kept trying to improve her method, sometimes with, yet usually without, success.In the case of "The Affair", she plays a handicapped woman, both physically and mentally, who attempts without success to keep herself from falling in love with her father's handsome business associate (real-life husband Robert Wagner). When she first meets him, she goes out of her way to ridicule him, but no sooner has she let out her first insult than she's involved in a hot and heavy affair with him. But when he gets serious, she wants to take a step back, and when she starts to get serious, he's ready to bail. This makes their relationship quite confusing, something sad to say also became a part of their off-screen marriage.Natalie makes herself look a lot less glamorous than normal, wearing an unbecoming hairstyle and less make-up. At first, it is even hard to recognize her. The chemistry between Wagner and Wood is mixed, much like most of the Taylor/Burton pairings which go to prove that off-screen relationships don't always have the best on-screen magic. The best performance comes from Bruce Davison as Wood's free-spirited brother. Fans of "Days of Our Lives" will be delighted to spot matriarch Alice Horton (Frances Reid) in a bit part as Wood's mother.

Not because it is a great movie by any means even by TV movie standards...but because of the deep and abiding affection I have for the Courtney Patterson character as portrayed by the luminous Wood. Like the former commenter I was INCENCENSED by the way Marcus Simon as portrayed by empty suit (okay, he wasn't that bad) Bobby Wagner pursued this emotionally fragile woman (despite an outward bravado) took her virginity and then when she FINALLY gave herself to a man fully and fell in love for the first time he decides that she is not worth the trouble because of her difficulty dealing with his shallow friends and tells her "I cannot handle it, Court!" and then rather coldly dumps her like she is a piece of garbage...She then tries to kill herself (or was it an accident with a broken glass???) and finally her hippie brother consoles her by saying, "Well,it looks like you finally got yourself loved!!!" and then they walk out into the sunset and the movie ends...(As a polio victim she had to walk on crutches, very poignant)Well, I enjoyed the sappy song Nat sang that foreshadowed the rest of the movie and I am a fool for the whole seventies TV movie vibe but mostly the reason to see this flick is for the performance of Natalie Wood who brings dignity and defiance to the character of Courtney and we get the feeling by the end of the movie that the real emotional cripple is the RJ character who uses this great lady and gets out of the relationship when the going gets rough...I bought this public domain movie at 6.99 at Circuit City several years ago but it is available for free on Google video..it is very blurry and faded but hey, free is free...Oh, P.S. Nat was pregnant during the filming with her second daughter who she named Courtney ...:)oh, and Frances (DOOL) Reid plays Nat's mom and she sang a song (" This is your Lucky Day")in the scne where the Patterson family is enjoying Christmas

Natalie Wood portrays Courtney Patterson, a polio disabled songwriter who attempts to avoid being victimized as a result of involvement in her first love affair, with her partner being attorney Marcus Simon, played tepidly by Wood's real-life husband, Robert Wagner. The film is cut heavily, but the majority of the remaining scenes shows a very weak hand from the director who permits Wagner to consistently somnambulate, laying waste to a solid and nuanced performance from Wood, who also proffers a fine soprano. The script is somewhat trite but the persistent nature of Wagner's dramatic shortcoming is unfortunately in place throughout, as he is given a free hand to impose his desultory stare at Wood, which must be discouraging to an actress. The progression of their relationship is erratically presented and this, coupled with choppy editing, leads the viewer to be less than assured as to what is transpiring, motivation being almost completely ignored in the writing. Although largely undistinguished, the cinematography shines during one brief scene when Wood is placed in a patio and, following the sound of a closing door, remains at the center while the camera's eye steadily pulls away demonstrating her helplessness and frailty. More controlled direction would have allowed the performers, even the limp Wagner, to scale their acting along the lines of an engaging relationship; as it was released, there is, for the most part, an immense lack of commitment.