Film

A Touch of Class

A sophisticated romantic comedy about an American businessman and an English divorcée who begin a passionate affair in 1970s London and Spain. It's witty, grown-up, and genuinely sexy without being explicit—the kind of film that treats infidelity as messy and human rather than simply scandalous. For anyone who misses when romance films trusted their audience to navigate moral ambiguity.

TMDb rating3.1

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An Unmarried Woman1978

Jill Clayburgh gives a luminous performance as a woman rebuilding her life after divorce in Manhattan. It's tender, funny, and captures the specific loneliness of urban independence with remarkable honesty and warmth.

But The pacing is deliberately slow, and it ends in a place that prioritizes self-discovery over romantic resolution—which might feel unresolved if you want clear closure.

An Unmarried Woman poster

The Graduate1967

A younger man navigates messy desire and moral confusion with dark comedy and style. Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft create real chemistry, and the film never quite lets you know whether to laugh or squirm—which is exactly the point.

But Its treatment of the female character hasn't aged perfectly, and some find the central premise distasteful rather than transgressive.

The Graduate poster

Starting Over1979

Burt Reynolds and Jill Clayburgh as a recently divorced couple finding unexpected romance. It balances comedy with genuine tenderness, and the supporting performances are wonderfully lived-in. Warm without being sentimental.

But It can feel a bit safe and sitcom-like at times; some viewers find it too earnestly optimistic about second chances.

Starting Over poster

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Going Places1974

Both films are unafraid of adult desire and moral messiness; both star magnetic performers in roles that require them to be simultaneously sympathetic and selfish. Both trust you to feel multiple emotions at once.

Two drifters and a woman they befriend navigate desire, freedom, and each other across rural France. It's sexually frank and anarchic in ways American cinema wouldn't touch; Bertrand Blier treats the body and pleasure without shame or judgment.

But It's genuinely transgressive—the sexual content is explicit and the violence casual. It's also French New Wave-adjacent and deliberately un-plot-driven, which some find frustrating.

Going Places poster
More like this (7)

Same Time, Next Year1978

Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn as two people who meet for one week every year across decades. It's romantic, witty, and genuinely moving—a clever premise executed with surprising emotional depth and chemistry.

But The episodic structure means it occasionally stops dead to age up the characters, and the montage-heavy approach can feel dated.

Same Time, Next Year poster

California Suite1978

Four intertwined stories of romance, marriage, and desire playing out in a Beverly Hills hotel. Alan Alda and Jane Fonda are particularly sharp; it's urbane and funny in the way sophisticated comedies should be, with real stakes underneath.

But The anthology format means some segments land better than others, and the tone shifts between segments can feel uneven.

California Suite poster

Chapter Two1979

James Caan as a widowed writer beginning to fall for someone new. Neil Simon's script is genuinely touching about grief and the guilt of moving on; it's funny but never lets you forget the real emotional stakes.

But The emotional honesty might feel heavy if you're in the mood for something lighter, and some find the pacing indulgent.

Chapter Two poster

Alfie1966

Michael Caine as a charming London ladies' man confronting the emptiness of his own life. It's clever and sexy, with real bite—the film doesn't let him off easy for his casual cruelty, and the ending has weight.

But His behavior toward women is deeply unsettling by design, and if you need to like your protagonist, this will be difficult viewing.

Alfie poster

The Heartbreak Kid1972

Charles Grodin as a newlywed who immediately falls for someone else on his honeymoon. It's darkly comic about desire and self-deception, directed by Elaine May with a wicked eye for male foolishness and emotional cowardice.

But The cruelty is often the joke, which won't work if you find the premise more sad than funny.

The Heartbreak Kid poster

Five Easy Pieces1970

Both explore the compartmentalization of desire—the fantasy life we construct alongside the real one. Both are character studies about intelligent people behaving badly and feeling deeply about it.

Jack Nicholson as a former classical pianist living a double life of deliberate mediocrity. It's funny and heartbreaking in equal measure—a film about the gap between who we are and who we pretend to be, told with remarkable emotional precision.

But There's no plot to speak of, just a man moving through scenes of quiet failure and disconnection. If you need narrative momentum, it will feel like nothing happens.

Five Easy Pieces poster

Le Divorce2003

Both are films about outsiders in sophisticated urban environments navigating infidelity, attraction, and the gap between fantasy and reality. Both find comedy in the mess without diminishing the genuine stakes.

Kate Hudson as an American woman caught in French romantic and marital complications after her sister's divorce. It's witty about cultural collision and adult love; James Ivory directs with elegance and a sharp eye for how people justify their choices.

But The tone is deliberately light and decorative rather than weightily emotional, and some find it more enjoyable as set decoration than as drama.

Le Divorce poster

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