A New Kind of Love Movie Review

It may have been made in the 1960s, but the "new kind of love" promised in the title of this film isn't swinging or orgies. In fact this kind of love actually doesn't seem so new at all.

This bizarre oddity actually features real-life husband and wife Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, five years after they were married, and thrown into an absurd love story that makes minimal sense and barely holds your interest for more than a few minutes. The setup is this: Newman is a journalist in Paris, and he thinks Woodward (despite her mannish looks here) is a high-priced call girl. He claims he wants to write a story about her, which of course is an entry to a love affair.

While its love story is traditional and bland, it's the '60s touches in Love that really turn you off. The sound of a stampede is played over a group of women shoppers in the opening scene. In one bizarre fantasy sequence, Newman and Woodward participate in a bicycle race, where Newman mixes a martini before ripping Woodward's formal dress from her body. The bulk of the film is shaded in primary color hues, painted over the action in what ultimately becomes a disconcerting head trip.

Is this a new kind of love? If it is, men are from Mars, women are from Venus, and writer-director Melville Shavelson is from Neptune.