"Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing" Review

 

by Daniel White

A drunken Maggie Smith singing "All Things Bright and Beautiful" while puffing on a cigar may not be everyone's idea of celluloid heaven, but it certainly is mine. The scene occurs about midway through Love and Pain and the whole damn thing, a 1973 film skillfully directed by Alan Pakula. And while that daffy, poignant and bittersweet moment (it transpires during a botched suicide attempt) is not all this romantic tale has to offer, it is one of the highlights in this perfectly acceptable older woman/younger man love story. A highlight because the majestic Miss Smith makes it so.

She plays Lila Fisher, an English woman on a sight-seeing tour in Spain. Reserved and preoccupied with learning Spanish, she is making the trip alone by bus until a young American (Timothy Bottoms) unexpectedly becomes her traveling companion. Asthmatic, fretful and unsure of himself, Walter Elbertson (Bottoms) and Lila do not warm up to each other immediately. Their problem is not that they are mismatched but that they are too alike. Two insecure self-doubters who have become isolated from the world. Walter rescues Lila from her suicide attempt and they begin an affair. While Walter's shyness gives way to exuberance, Lila remains hesitant to commit fully. Concern about their age difference is not the only reasons for her reluctance.

Alvin Sargent has written a quirky, at times rueful, screenplay that borders on the precious. But Smith, with her prickly demeanor that seamlessly segues into sorrow is outstanding and prevents the film from getting bogged down in sticky sentiment. This is a mood piece written for two and would be a complete failure if Maggie Smith was the only one dazzling us with her prowess as an actor. Timothy Bottoms may be less experienced, but after a tenuous start, settles in nicely and manages to keep up with our star. By the end of this melancholy, sweet, off-putting little tryst, Maggie Smith and Timothy Bottoms have managed to make us care about Lila Fisher and Walter Elbertson.

Filmed almost entirely in Spain, to it's advantage by the cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth, and distributed by Columbia Pictures, Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing is currently streaming on Tubi.