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Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

Play trailer Poster for Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice R 1969 1h 45m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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82% Tomatometer 62 Reviews 66% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
After returning to Los Angeles from a group therapy session, documentary filmmaker Bob Sanders (Robert Culp) and his wife, Carol (Natalie Wood), find themselves becoming vigilante couples counselors, offering unsolicited advice to their best friends, Ted (Elliott Gould) and Alice Henderson (Dyan Cannon). Not wanting to be rude, the Hendersons play along, but some latent sexual tension among the four soon comes bubbling to the surface, and long-buried desires don't stay buried for long.
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Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

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Critics Consensus

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice isn't as subversive as it thinks it is -- but it is smart & sophisticated & funny & well-acted.

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Critics Reviews

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Thomas Goldthwaite Arizona Republic 06/16/2022
It is another product of the industry's Dream Machine Movies, aimed at the deprived, indigent and needy who find they can peep better in the dark than in sunlight. Go to Full Review
Marjory Adams Boston Globe 06/16/2022
An exciting example of the new morality in cinema terms, intelligently and colorfully acted by a quartet of attractive players. Go to Full Review
Derek Malcolm Guardian 06/16/2022
One has the suspicion that they have nothing better to do. Be that as it may, the sexual games they play make a very funny film. Go to Full Review
Noah Gittell Washington City Paper 07/19/2024
Paul Mazursky’s 1969 comedy speaks to its moment, when normies everywhere were wondering how they could partake in the pleasures of the counterculture, but Mazursky has his eye on something more universal. Go to Full Review
John Bustin Austin American-Statesman 06/16/2022
This controversial new film is a slickly made, superbly acted, deftly satirical but vaguely sick comedy exploring two couples who get comically caught up in the modern sexual revolution. Go to Full Review
R.H. Gardner Baltimore Sun 06/16/2022
It is an extremely funny movie, certainly the best Natalie Wood has ever made and one of the best turned out by any Hollywood studio during 1969. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Alan R Jun 20 Ahead of its time in 1969 when I first saw it. Seeing it again now, it seems dated and forced, although it was a timely film back in the day. Bob seemed 'too cool', but likable. I think he tried to treat every incident in the movie as if it was an Esalen encounter with just too much psychobabble. Today the movie seems like a camp satire/mockery of the emerging free love/open sexuality themes of the 60s. But it was a nice take of the sexual revolution's move from the hippies to the straight community (called 'swinging') as the 60s segued into the 70s. See more David H @DavidQHarris 05/11/2024 When this movie came out in 1969, I was eight years old. It played at the local drive-in theater in Kailua, Hawaii; where I lived at the time, and I was under the impression that it was X-rated. All these years later, I came across the DVD of the film in the public library, read the sleeve, and discovered that it’s not X-rated at all. For reasons of nostalgia, I brought it home and watched it, and I discovered that it does feature some nudity toward the beginning, but it’s a pretty tame film otherwise. It’s very much a product of the 1960s, and some of the dialogue has that stilted Beat-era-inspired dialogue that you get in films from that time. But it was interesting enough, and I enjoyed watching it just as I enjoy an occasional episode of the original Hawaii Five-0 from that era, one episode of which was filmed in a house in our neighborhood while we watched from the sidelines. See more 07/02/2022 The least funny 1.75 hours ever!!!!!!! See more 03/21/2022 I made the mistake of watching this movie just because I saw Natalie Wood in the cast, and it said "romance/comedy." Comedy? Where's the comedy? There's not one joke. And don't get me started on the romance. There's no plot. Just unpleasant scenes that seem to go on forever, and disgusting noises. It makes a Woody Allen movie seem like a trip in comparison. The only positive thing that could be said about the movie is how it depicts a specific era (free love), but that's pretty much it. Don't waste your time and watch this movie. There are many better ones. Leave this for when you're out of movies to watch or something. See more 08/24/2020 Raises some interesting points about open marriage and the risks/limits of it. As a culture time capsule, it highlights the difference between "those crazy Californians" compared to more traditional types, as represented here, it seems, by the relatively nebbish, Elliot Gould. But to take it as a comedy, even back in '69, seems a real stretch. Interesting open-ended finish, quite "New Hollywood." Unfortunately, this must be one of Natalie Wood's least memorable films. The whole cast, except for Wood, seems at ease in an improvisational style. In some ensemble scenes Wood, who I adore in "Splendor in the Grass" and the tragically underrated "This Property is Condemned," looks like a little girl lost in a very adult-themed picture. See more steve d 07/17/2020 Once you get beyond the shock, there isn't much here. See more Read all reviews
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

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Movie Info

Synopsis After returning to Los Angeles from a group therapy session, documentary filmmaker Bob Sanders (Robert Culp) and his wife, Carol (Natalie Wood), find themselves becoming vigilante couples counselors, offering unsolicited advice to their best friends, Ted (Elliott Gould) and Alice Henderson (Dyan Cannon). Not wanting to be rude, the Hendersons play along, but some latent sexual tension among the four soon comes bubbling to the surface, and long-buried desires don't stay buried for long.
Director
Paul Mazursky
Producer
Larry Tucker
Screenwriter
Paul Mazursky, Larry Tucker
Distributor
Columbia Pictures
Production Co
Columbia Pictures Corporation, Frankovich Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 8, 1969, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 16, 2012
Runtime
1h 45m
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