Why Jane Fonda Robert Redford Movies Still Matter (Seriously)

Fifty years. That is how long it took for Robert Redford and Jane Fonda to go from being the "it" couple of 1960s cinema to playing two elderly neighbors looking for a reason to wake up in the morning. Their partnership is weird. It’s rare. Honestly, it’s one of the few things in Hollywood that feels genuinely earned rather than manufactured by a PR machine.

You’ve probably seen the posters. The blonde hair, the impossible jawlines, that specific brand of American royalty glow. But if you look past the aesthetics, jane fonda robert redford movies tell a surprisingly gritty story about how we age, how we fail each other, and how we eventually try to fix it. They made five movies together—if you count Redford’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance as a basketball player in Fonda’s debut Tall Story (1960)—and each one marks a different era of the American psyche.

The Rough Start: The Chase (1966)

Most people think they started with the rom-com stuff. Wrong. Their first real collaboration was The Chase, a sweaty, high-tension drama set in a small Texas town. It’s dark. Marlon Brando is the sheriff, Redford is an escaped convict named Bubber, and Fonda is his wife, Anna, who’s busy having an affair with the local rich kid.

It wasn't a hit. Critics at the time, like Richard Schickel, called it a disaster of "awesome proportions." Looking back now, it’s fascinating because you see them before they were "Icons." Redford is muddled and dispirited; Fonda is desperate. They aren't the polished versions of themselves yet. They’re just two young actors trying to survive a script that was, frankly, trying too hard to be "important."

The Peak: Barefoot in the Park (1967)

Then came the 1967 classic Barefoot in the Park. This is the one everyone remembers. It’s a Neil Simon adaptation that basically defined the "opposites attract" trope for a generation.

• The Setup: Paul (Redford) is a stuffy, conservative lawyer. Corie (Fonda) is a "fun-seeker" who wants to sleep on the floor and walk barefoot in the snow.
• The Conflict: They live in a tiny, fifth-floor walk-up in Greenwich Village with a hole in the skylight.
• The Result: Absolute comedic gold.

Fonda actually admitted years later that she was totally in love with him during filming. Who wasn't? But their chemistry worked because it felt like a real argument. It wasn't just "movie magic"—it was the friction of two people who genuinely liked each other but couldn't agree on how to live. The film grossed $30 million on a $2 million budget. In 1967, that was massive.

The Transition: The Electric Horseman (1979)

Twelve years passed. By 1979, the world had changed. Fonda was a political activist and a fitness mogul; Redford was the king of Sundance and serious cinema. They teamed up for The Electric Horseman, directed by Sydney Pollack.

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It’s a weird movie. Redford plays a washed-up rodeo star who steals a multi-million dollar horse to set it free, and Fonda is the savvy reporter chasing the story. It’s cynical but somehow romantic. It captures that late-70s disillusionment perfectly. They weren't the starry-eyed newlyweds anymore. They were adults with baggage.

The Quiet Ending: Our Souls at Night (2017)

Fast forward nearly 40 years. In 2017, they reunited for the Netflix original Our Souls at Night. It’s a quiet, devastatingly simple movie. Addie (Fonda) goes to her neighbor Louis (Redford) and asks: "Would you be interested in coming to my house to sleep with me?"

Not for sex. Just to talk. To get through the night without the crushing weight of loneliness.

There’s a scene in this movie that serves as a perfect meta-moment for their entire career. They check into a hotel in Denver, and Fonda’s character looks around and says it feels familiar. It’s a direct nod to their honeymoon scene at the Plaza in Barefoot in the Park. It’s a bookend. They went from the frantic energy of youth to the settled, rhythmic peace of old age.

Why We Are Still Obsessed

Why do we care about these specific films? There are plenty of actor pairings that don't stick. But with Fonda and Redford, we watched them grow up. We watched the blonde hair turn silver.

Their collaboration works because of what they don't say. Redford is famous for being a "reaction" actor—he listens. Fonda is all energy and movement. When you put those two things together, you get a balance that keeps the screen from feeling too crowded or too empty.

What most people get wrong is thinking they were a real-life couple. They weren't. They were both married to other people for most of their careers. Fonda famously said, "I made three films with him and nothing happened because I was married and he was married." That professional distance might be why the on-screen tension remained so high for half a century.

Practical Ways to Experience the Legacy

If you want to actually "get" why these movies matter, don't just watch them in order of release. Try this instead:

1. Watch Barefoot in the Park (1967) first. Enjoy the optimism.
2. Jump immediately to Our Souls at Night (2017). The contrast is jarring and beautiful. It makes you realize how much "life" happened in between.
3. Finish with The Electric Horseman (1979). It’s the bridge between the two extremes.

If you’re looking for a deep dive into 20th-century American cinema, there is no better roadmap than the filmography of these two. They represent the shift from the rigid studio system to the indie-flavored realism of the modern era.

Go find a copy of Barefoot in the Park. Notice how they move around that tiny apartment. It’s a masterclass in physical comedy that still holds up, even if the gender roles feel a little dated. The chemistry isn't something you can fake with CGI or a better script. It's just two people who know each other's rhythms so well they don't even need to look at each other to know where to stand.

Start with the 1967 classic tonight. See if you can spot the moment Fonda actually falls for him on camera. It's there, if you're looking.