Three middle-aged wealthy couples take vacations together in Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Along the way we are treated to mid-life, marital, parental and other crises.

Alan Alda said what inspired the film was an actual incident where he judged a friend too harshly. He realized that not only was he wrong, that friendship goes through "seasons"; so he wrote the script based on that notion.

Jack:
OK, that's a problem I have. When I get angry, I overanalyze. You know why I do that?

Continuity: At the very beginning of "Autumn," we see leaves falling as a blue Mercedes sedan whooshes by (the camera catches the right side of the car) on a curvy road. All we see is the right side/front of what is very clearly a late '70s/early '80s S-class Mercedes (likely a 450 SEL or a turbodiesel variant of the same body style). However, in the next shot, the car shown is the same color, but very clearly a 300 class (300 Diesel or 300 Turbodiesel) model. The latter is used in all interior and exterior shots throughout the Autumn (at the Connecticut inn) and eventually sinks on thin ice in "Winter."