Donna Deitch directs Helen Shaver, Patricia Charbonneau and Audra Lindley in this period romance about an uptight professor who moves to a ranch in Reno to set up the legal residency needed for a divorce yet falls for a free spirit bisexual. 

A genuinely unpredictable romance (you can’t tell if we are headed towards happy ending or quiet tragedy right up until the final line) that make perfect use of its handsome locations and pretty faces. Deitch employs a series of wipes and fade outs to punctuate scenes of unspoken attraction and intelligent tenderness. Every speaking character has depth and complexity. All the unrequited courtship eventually builds to both damaging drama and a powerful sex scene. All four female leads leave a lasting impression and watching Shaver and Charbonneau spar and flirt and eventually adopt each others’ wardrobes has the winning air of Billy Wilder’s spikier work in the genre. The only film I managed to catch at this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival but a great one I was glad to discover.

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