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The Four Seasons (1981), a romantic comedy written, directed by, and starring Alan Alda, follows three middle-class couples in New York City whose long-standing friendship is tested as they navigate the ups and downs of life together.
Set against a musical backdrop of Vivaldi pieces, The Four Seasons follows a year of the seasonal holidays—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—during which the group bicker about the topics of aging, love, and commitment.
Group dynamics are shaken when Nick (Len Cariou) suddenly replaces his long-time wife Anne (Sandy Dennis) with a younger mistress, Ginny (Bess Armstrong), on a vacation. The shock forces tests the equilibrium of the group and sets searching changing relationships, ultimately asking how close friendships mature with the necessary alterations of life.
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If viewers loved watching The Four Seasons for its themes of friendships, surviving life's alterations, and complications of love and loyalty, then here is a list of seven similar movies.
Disclaimer: The following list is ranked in no particular order, and the opinions expressed belong solely to the author.
Friends with Kids and 6 other movies to watch if you liked The Four Seasons (1981)
1) The Big Chill (1983)
The Big Chill is a comedy-drama film, directed by Lawrence Kasdan and released in 1983, featuring an ensemble cast including Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, and JoBeth Williams.
The movie takes place when a group of baby boomers get together after 12 years since college life in the University of Michigan for their friend Alex's su*cide. They gather in a South Carolina house, and while there, they look back on their past, ideals transformed, and harsh realities of adulthood.
The past hates are renewed, the rapport is strained, and each one of the characters wrestles with his or her own regrets and yearnings there. It is a human-centered film about transformation, friendship, and the way time passes.
Similar to The Four Seasons, The Big Chill freezes the peaks and troughs of reunion between old buddies as they battle age, nostalgia, and what holds them together.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+
2) Husbands (1970)
Husbands (1970) is a comedy-drama written and directed by John Cassavetes. The film is about three middle-aged men who undergo a midlife crisis when a close friend passes away.
Pacing themselves in reaction to their life-threatening realization, they embark on an improvisational odyssey that puts their relationships, morals, and sense of self to a test. Raw, uncensored, and emotionally exposed, the film raises questions about masculinity, mourning, grief, and seeking meaning in midlife.
While The Four Seasons offers a soulful take on middle-age camaraderie, Husbands delivers a raw, unflinching look at loss, manhood, and mid-life crisis.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
3) Friends with Kids (2011)
Friends with Kids (2011) is a romantic comedy film that features Adam Scott, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'Dowd, Megan Fox, and Edward Burns in an ensemble cast.
Friends with Kids traces the path of two close friends who have a child in their 30s but continue to date other individuals, not wanting to subject each other's romantic relationship to tension caused by a child.
With love, life, and parenthood, the unconventional setup is tested to break their own assumption and that of their tight-knit group of friends.
Like The Four Seasons, Friends with Kids explores evolving friendship and love within a group facing life's changes.
Where to watch: Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix
4) Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice is a 1969 American comedy-drama directed by Paul Mazursky. It stars Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, Elliott Gould, and Dyan Cannon.
The movie follows the adventures of two Los Angeles couples who try new ideas about s*x, marriage, and love following one couple adopting a new ethos of emotional permissiveness and non-traditional relationships.
When their views clash and modify, the four friends are led to reexamine their own values and boundaries.
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice is a variation of The Four Seasons' fascination with adult relationships but offers a satirical and humorous examination of marriage, s*x, and social norms between friends.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+
5) Diner (1982)
Diner is a 1982 comedy-drama directed by Barry Levinson in his first directorial feature. The first of Levinson's semi-autobiographical "Baltimore Films," this movie—shot in his native Baltimore—is followed by Tin Men (1987), Avalon (1990), and Liberty Heights (1999).
Starring Paul Reiser, Kevin Bacon, Mickey Rourke, Steve Guttenberg, Ellen Barkin, Timothy Daly, and Daniel Stern, it is about a group of friends since college who gather for lunch at Baltimore's diner one day when one member of the group is marrying.
Diner captures the spirit of The Four Seasons in its contemplative depiction of lasting friendships tested by the responsibilities and uncertainties of adulthood.
Where to watch: Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video
6) The Trip (2010)
The Trip is a British comedy film released in 2010 and the first of a series of film adaptations of the same-titled BBC television series, directed by Michael Winterbottom.
Starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in semi-fictionalized form as themselves, the movie embarks on a restaurant tour of northern England with the two actors for The Observer after Steve's girlfriend stands him up at the last minute.
The majority of the film is improvised as they record their banter and working relationship jealousy as they eat and bicker their way around the country.
As in The Four Seasons, The Trip uses travel as a backdrop for ironic yet touching conversations between close friends facing vanity, aging, and self-esteem.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Netflix
7) Walking and Talking (1996)
Walking and Talking is a 1996 independent film featuring Catherine Keener, Anne Heche, Todd Field, Liev Schreiber, and Kevin Corrigan.
Amelia and Laura are best friends whose bond is strained when Laura gets engaged and Amelia enters a complicated new romance. Through love, jealousy, and friendship, the two women navigate laughter and tears as they confront what they truly want from relationships and themselves.
Capturing The Four Seasons’ emotional core, Walking and Talking explores lasting friendship amid love, insecurity, and growing pains.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+
Interested viewers can watch The Four Seasons on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and Apple TV+.
