Though this original screenplay by Peter Woodward has the potential for an interesting examination of the endurance of love, it’s saddled with characters who are not very believable and situations which are more melodramatic than realistic.

There are emotional high points in this film about one woman and the three men who love her, but the storytelling is cluttered and the constant to-ing and fro-ing from past to present detracts from the overall

Closing the Ring is well-acted throughout and it has a romantic appeal that is not to be sneered at, even if some may find it bland.

It would be a flinty heart indeed that fails to be touched by the rheumy-eyed playing of MacLaine and her co-star Christopher Plummer.

Newcomers Gregory Smith, Stephen Amell and David Alpay, as three young US Air Force men, act like daytime soap stars.

Preposterous, and a bit low-budget, but the story is socked over with earnest energy.