In Love with an Older Woman (1982 TV Movie) User Reviews

Gratifying On Its Own Terms.

[rsoonsa · 7/10 · 31 July 2005]

John Ritter plays as a 29 year old bachelor, Robert Christenberry, successful attorney with a prominent law firm who falls in love with a legal investigator assigned to his office, Isobel Ross (Karen Carlson), age 43, and while Robert opens his heart and craves marriage with her, Isobel, divorced with a 24 year old daughter, holds a more sensible attitude toward their affair, and complications result, both at and away from their workplace. The film is based upon David Kaufelt's debut novel, "Six Months With An Older Woman", with its script by Michael Norell displaying significant changes, e.g., shaving a couple of years off the age of the "older woman", repositioning the work environment of the lovers from publishing to law, and eliding Robert's parallel thralldom to his mother and his psychiatrist, each of whom potentially endangers Robert's bond with Isobel. The work is set in San Francisco and shot there for television, with that medium's pedigree in evidence throughout, including a cobbled score, reliance upon single takes, and erratic editing, particularly pertinent to the sound, but cinematographer Thomas Del Ruth utilizes the scenic locations very well and, following a somewhat unimaginative opening, the film begins to construct itself from within, as it were, despite these flaws, until at last naturalistic emotion controls the scenario. The piece is loosely directed, resulting in its becoming actor driven, with dialogue often trite but yet increasingly percipient as the action progresses, Carlson earning acting laurels for her layered performance as a woman giving in to passion while not losing sight of a higher reality, a deftly defined performance, helping lead this interesting film to its pleasing and only temperately ambiguous ending.

likable leads in simple romantic story

[jimakros · 7/10 · 17 March 2008]

John Ritter was at his best in comedy,but here he tried his hand at a straight romantic role with interesting results.His youthful qualities are at good work here in the role of the twentysomething lawyer who has an affair with a forty year old woman.This age-gap thing seems dated today compared to the early 80's a time that was considered pretty hip but still was much more conservative than these days. The female part is played by actress Karen Carlson,a stunning beauty whose most famous role was probably as Redford's wife in "the candidate".They don't really click with Ritter but the story is simple enough with some issues about ethics and a lot of talk about decade differences.Certainly,it doesn't look any strange why anyone would be in love with a looker like Carlson as the other characters around the couple want us to believe.An amiable little romantic movie with likable leads.

Lawyer meets Girl, gets Nice

[A_Minor_Blip · 6/10 · 5 July 2006]

Lawyer meets girl, girl enriches him, lawyer gets nice. Sound familiar? This film came out a few years earlier than the popular romantic comedy I'm referring to, and the woman who steals this ruthless lawyer's heart isn't a prostitute, in fact she's a classy artist in disguise who works for this lawyer as an investigator. The love story here is nice and relaxing, takes it's time and pays off somewhat. We get to see John Ritter playing a selfish guy who loves picking up on girls, much like his character in "Three's Company", only this guy wants to change... But only after meeting this older woman (who in real life is only three years older than Ritter but in this is thirteen years his elder), this woman who gives him a hard time at first, a chase... As in, she won't just give in to a good line like the other easy girls in single's bars that he'd excelled at "conquering" before. And so, after said lawyer and nice woman "connect", he gets smitten... And along the way she tells him that inside of that clam is a pearl... so to speak... And thus he becomes a nice lawyer and backs off a case which could have been a cinch. So what is it Hollywood's telling us? That without love we're all ruthless lawyers, and then, after-wards, furry bunny rabbits? Or rather, furry lawyers? I'm still not sure. Either way, this TV movie isn't bad for an afternoon waster if you have nothing else to do but watch TV.

In Love With An Older Woman

[robob-3 · 10/10 · 30 August 2005]

I watched this movie seems like eons ago and I must say that it still resonates in my mind as one of my all time great love movies made for television. I do insert somewhat of a spoiler in this comment so heads up. The two contrasting lifestyles of Rotter & Carlson made it all the more better. He entered the relationship at first thinking it was cool to be so young and having a much older woman and then it seemed to all turn on him (for the good). My favorite line in the movie is when Carlson is telling him they come from two completely different generations and their lifestyles would not match. She goes on to mention entertainers of her time "Fred Allen" thinking he would not know who Fred Allen was, but to her surprise he says "you mean the Fred Allen who said Oh! Portland? That Fred Allen." You have to see the movie to appreciate the line. It is an awesome movie & I am trying my best to find it on DVD so my wife & I can watch it.

A Powerfully Visionary Masterpiece

[jlthornb51 · 10/10 · 21 May 2015]

The screen veritably explodes with passion in this fantastically erotic film starring John Ritter and Karen Carlson. Neither actor have ever been more superb in any role and their chemistry in this motion picture is truly flammable. With extraordinary detail and understanding, the passionate affair of a young man and older woman is portrayed with fiery imagery heretofore never seen in a television production. Their desire is palatable as we watch their intense relationship burn in visions of eroticism so incredibly moving that we look away at times in embarrassment. This is a film that broke new ground and challenged the production code to change its very parameters. While may judge it to simply too much to take, for those who have known such passion in their lives, the sparks this produces will ignite memories of stunning power.