The Way We Were (PG)

Robert Redford and Barbara Streisand are paired to quietly compelling effect in this clear-eyed romantic classic from director Sydney Pollack.

Set against decades of social and political change, the story follows the on-again, off-again relationship between Hubbell Gardiner, a gifted writer with movie-star looks, and Katie Morosky, an outspoken idealist who refuses to soften her beliefs. They meet as students and drift in and out of each other’s lives through wartime Hollywood and the anxious years of the Red Scare, their love constantly tested by ambition, politics, and fundamentally different worldviews. As Hubbell finds professional success, Katie’s principles place her increasingly at odds with the compromises he is willing to make.

Redford is perfect as Hubbell, embodying a relaxed magnetism that masks deeper uncertainty and creative drift. Streisand gives Katie a sharp intelligence and emotional clarity that makes her convictions feel lived-in rather than rhetorical. Pollack’s direction favours intimate conversations and quiet fractures over grand romantic gestures, allowing the passage of time to do much of the work.

Elegant without being indulgent, it’s a measured, enduring look at how romance is shaped by history, compromise and change