Despite the film's outrageous clothes and bad perms that just scream 1980, "The Last Married Couple in America" is surprisingly relevant in the 21st century. Married couples are STILL breaking up at alarming rates twenty five years later. The only difference is no one's shocked anymore...which would make Mari and Jeff Thompson's dismay a bit outdated to our modern eyes, though no less heartfelt.
In our current culture that demonizes any kind of misconceived "threat" (gay marriage, feminism, happily single men and women, whatever victim you want to choose) to traditional marriage, it's nice to see that at one time people actually worried about fixing their own affairs rather than blaming others!!
I'm a bit biased because I'm a huge Natalie Wood fan and love her later work ("The Cracker Factory," "The Affair," even the remake of "From Here to Eternity") but I have to say I enjoyed this film, warts and all. It seems that almost every film made in the late 70s and early 80s featured oddly dressed characters dancing to new wave/disco (think "Xanadu"). Don't let the occasional fashion faux pas divert your attention from the fact you could learn a lot about what makes a good marriage work!
George Segal's warm-hearted, goofy charm and Natalie Wood's wise, but innocent ways create an energy that help "The Last Married Couple in America" get through the rough spots.
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