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Doris Day has never looked lovelier than in this film. She has a figure to die for and clothes to match as the upscale interior decorator Jan. Jan lives alone in a nice high-rise apartment where she has a housekeeper Alma, played by the incomparable Thelma Ritter, who comes in daily...usually with a hangover and a few choice words for the elevator operator. One of Alma's chief daily entertainments is listening to Jan's fellow party-line user romance his harem of women...particularly with his self-composed song, "You're my inspiration, (fill in girl he's talking to's name)." . Jan, however, doesn't feel as fondly towards her party-line lothario the composer Brad Allen (Rock Hudson). In fact, Jan is so upset by the heavy use of their phone-line and her inability to make or receive calls, that she complains to the phone company in an attempt to get a private line. Meanwhile, Jan is being courted by millionaire Jonathan Forbes (Tony Randall), who is having her redecorate his office. Coincidentally, Brad meets Jan accidentally and realizes she's his fellow party-line user, but knows she won't give him the time of day, so he introduces himself as, Rex, a Texan with a southern drawl, who loves his mama and is a "simple man".

"They sent a woman! That's like sending a marshmallow to put out a bonfire."-Jan

There is a lot of great comedy...particularly the timing of things. There is great dialogue and one liners...as well as some physical comedy. Much is premised on misunderstandings, but that is what makes it great. I absolutely adore the use of the well timed song..."you, lied. You dog. And you'll be sorry.". I also love the fact that two random strangers stand up for a poor girl crying in a roadside diner.

"I'm part of a minority."-Jonathan "What Minority?"-Brad "Millionaires. You outnumber us, but you'll never get us."-Jonathan

The colors are great in this film, Doris Day is gorgeous, Tony Randall and Thelma Ritter are hysterical in their rolls and Rock Hudson is handsome and believable in his alpha-male playboy role. The whole film should be on any classic film goer's must see list, but particularly if you are a fan of romantic comedies...I have seen so many contemporary films reference this film and straight up steals scenes, like the split screen bathtub scene with their legs appearing to touch. This film really is a master course in romantic comedy. Everything has it's place and the pacing is spectacular. If I haven't sold this film to you yet...you should at least watch it for the den of iniquity that is created at the end, wow! I have not seen anything to rival it on screen. Huge recommendation from me.

"You're my inspiration... Eileen."

The star of this series is Joel Edgerton who plays Jason Dessen, a physics professor living in Chicago with his wife Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) and teenage son Charlie (Oakes Fegley). His college friend Ryan Holder (Jimmi Simpson) wins an award for a chemical he designed for pain management and with his new found backing he is starting a start up and wants Jason to come work for him in his lab, except the job is in San Francisco. After Jason turns down the job, he is abducted by a masked man who puts him in a box which sends him to an alternate reality where everyone knows him but he doesn't have memories of them or their world.

In this new reality, he didn't marry his wife Daniela and he pursued this idea of the box, using his friend Ryan's chemical formula...to allow for exploration of alternative realms where different paths were taken. Desperate to get back to his wife, child and life...Joel ends up back in the box with a psychiatrist who is his alter's girlfriend Amanda Lucas (Alice Braga). Meanwhile, we learn that Jason's abductor is his alter Jason #2, who has now assimilated into Jason #1's life...including having sex with his wife and buying a car for his son.

Once Jason #1 and Amanda are in the box, they have a limited number of vials which are necessary for trips and they discover that they do not know how to control where they end up...there is a learning curve to find the correct reality. This learning curve gets stretched out possibly longer than necessary, but the overall story is actually very good. I did have some issues with the "rules", which I can't get into without giving away some major surprises but let's just say what is true for Jason #1 should be true for Jason #2 and it doesn't seem to be in terms of numbers.

The acting was excellent and the overall production quality was great. I liked some of the world visions and I enjoyed Blake Crouch's basic story...it was really interesting, even though I had some minor issues with the rules or "science". Also, I would have trouble putting my fate in the hands of a teenager, their idea of a great world might be free beer and topless women. It was pretty clear the episodes where Blake Crouch had a hand, they were tighter and didn't drag. I thought the middle episodes dragged a bit without contributing much to the overall story. It probably could have been shortened from 10 episodes down to 5 or 6. As for the book, I highly recommend it, my husband loved it.

I want to preface my review by saying that I am a huge classic film fan and a hardcore romantic. I recognize that I am in the minority with my review...but I find this film very hard to take. Let's start with the title, it's hardly a "brief" encounter when the two keeping going back week after week!

The whole thing starts at the end, when a wife is imagining confessing everything to her husband...and this is how we relive the tragic events that lead her back to her own living room and two children upstairs. You see she encounters a "doctor" at a train station cafe when she gets something in her eye and then starts a weekly pubescent assignation with him. Like most teenage love affairs its filled with drama, both imagined and real...there is sneaking, lying to one's family, and thinking you are being judged. The dialogue lacks depth and frankly is overly melodramatic..."I love you, I love you." "I want to die". I have difficulty understanding how these two can be in love after such a brief encounter and, unlike with Romeo and Juliet, without either being a great beauty.

As a movie goer, I have come to think of infidelity as being very British and this is no exception as both of the participants are married with children. It doesn't seem to slow them down however...and the film leaves me with more questions than it does answers. You might have noticed that I used quotes around doctor when describing our hero and the reason for that is how does she know he is an actual doctor. Yes, she meets him outside the physical hospital...but how does she know this isn't just a ploy that he uses to romance (aka sleep with) women? For all she knows he is a train station lothario who claims to be a doctor, so stupid naive women like her will have sordid little affairs with him, in fact he might not even be married! Then there is my question as to why this woman leaves her two kids and home...to go to another town to shop, wander around and go to the movie theater. Am I the only person who thinks that is odd?

The one thing the film does really have going for it is the score and cinematography. Both the setting of the train station and the way it was filmed is incredibly romantic...which really pulls at me, as a romantic. Unfortunately, I can't get over the fact that these two are married to others, don't have anything in common, and that the good doctor might be a predatory philanderer in reality. It's for those reasons that this film doesn't come near my list of top 100 classic romantic films and keeps me from recommending it to fellow romantics. Now if you are a fan of cinematography or you just love tragic love stories, I would recommend the film with caveats.

Final note, I loved seeing Stanley Holloway in this film...it's always delightful seeing him outside of My Fair Lady and he plays a bit of a flirt in this one. His appearances may be brief, but they are delightful!