Not as good as I remembered it

I would have to agree, that as much as I've enjoyed watching this film over the years, it has not aged well and some of the characters do begin to grate on you, particularly Alda's, who always wants to be honest as long as it doesn't touch him or the criticism doesn't come his way. Alda reminds me a lot of Woody Allen in that respect...whatever is going on in the film with the character, it's always everybody else's fault.

I have to say I enjoyed the film when I first saw it as a kid, and I still enjoy it today.

The characters are more like my parents' generation, so the times fit with the 1980s.

The humour is light-hearted, and the moose in the fireplace is still a hoot.

Sorry, I like Vivaldi. I make no appologies...

** John K

I actually think this movie aged very well. I loved this movie when it came out, went many years without seeing it, and watched it again on Encore. I watched it again this morning. And I enjoyed it as much today as I did when it first came out.

The message of this movie holds up to this day. It represents something that I think we all stive for: lifelong friends who accept us for all our flaws, friends who we can be truthful with and vulnerabilities that threaten all our happiness.

This movie is timeless. Not Oscar-worthy. But, the acting is supurb and the story timeless.

For those who don't "get it," regarding this movie, you may be comparing The Four Seasons to modern-day productions.

As the saying goes, they don't make them like The Four Seasons anymore. And that is a shame.

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I see your points - some dramatic devices used in "Four Seasons" do seem dated and probably are, but it doesn't lessen my enjoyment of it. Like others, I saw it in the 1980's when I was in college and loved it. In fact, some of it was filmed on Agnes Scott College and I was friends with some of the students who saw the filming (they were amused that fall leaves had to be glued on the trees as it was filmed out of season). The scenes filmed on Agnes Scott are the ones where the Alan Alda character visits his daughter in college. Anyway, even though some the dramatic devices seem a little tired (perhaps due to Alda's experience in 1970's television?) - I still enjoy the theme that we love our friends in spite of their flaws and perhaps in part because of them. Also, I simply *love* Carol Burnett's performance and her chemistry with Alda was simply delightful. You believe these two are married when watching the film.

I was personally a little sorry that Alan Alda gave up producing his own films. He hit a few mulligans and then just stopped. I liked "Sweet Liberty" myself, not as much as "Four Seasons", but still an enjoyable ride. I think that if he produced a few more films he might have really come into stride as a Woody Allen type auteur. Oh well. Kudos to him for his work that he did achieve in any case. He is a fine actor and I loved his performance in "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and the "Aviator" - he has a knack at making despicable characters interesting, no mean feat.

I felt exactly the opposite. When it came out in 1981, I barely could sit through it. They all seemed so old, like my parents' age. Now that I am of that "certain" age, I appreciate the dialogue and relationships between the characters. And that speech of Carol Burnett's about "not wanting to grow old just looking at each other," wanting to grow old with friends, gets me every time!

"What we need here is more cowbell!"...Christopher Walken

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I actually watched this film quite recently and I liked it just as much as I always did. I thought it was hilarious and couldn't stop laughing. It also got me wondering who could play these roles today.

About what the O.P. said about how they thought it was strange that they couldn't remember how they met ... actually the women did, but the men didn't and that is not at all surprising to me. That's just typical of men ... they usually don't remember things like that and then if they think they do, they usually get it wrong.