Over the Brooklyn Bridge

In the opening scene, as the title "Over the Brooklyn Bridge" splashes across the screen, the main characters are shown (in a dramatic shot) driving across the... Manhattan Bridge... I witnessed this egregious error in a Brooklyn theater, back in the day. I swear, if the director or producer had been present, they would have been ripped apart (literally). Anyway, It all goes down hill from there... the cast although usually talented fail to deliver in this one, they simply sleepwalk through a cookie-cutter Hollywood plot, doing the minimum to earn their keep. This film is a tedious bore, full of cliché lines and cheap devices. it is best sent to the "lost forever" bin.

My review was written in January 1984 after viewing at a Midtown Manhattan screening room.

"Over the Brooklyn Bridge" is producer-director (and Cannon Group chairman) Menahem Golan's love letter to New York City: a warm and pleasant romance similar to the type of films topliner Elliott Gould (and George Segal, as well) used to make 10 or 15 years earlier. Boasting an outstanding (and promotable) supporting performance by Sid Caesar as Gould's bossy uncle, the picture (geared to the audience that attended "My Favorite Year") should do okay business when released later this year through MGM-UA, following its current debut in Tel Aviv.

Screenplay by the late Arnold Somkin (who died in 1982 before production began, and to whom "Bridge" is dedicated) is short on laughs but very effective in portraying a loving, romantic view of New York and its melting pot of ethnic groups. As directed by Golan, and cheerfully lit by cameraman Adam Greenberg, the Big Apple is a paradise where even 42nd Street and the subways are sources of glamor rather than the cliched eyesores they represent in most recent N. Y.-lensed films.

Gould stars as Alby Sherman, owner of a Brooklyn eatery who dreams of buying a posh restaurant on the East Side in midtown Manhattan. His love affair with an aristocratic Catholic girl from Philadelphia (Margaux Hemingway) raises the ire of his Jewish family, particularly the patriarch Uncle Benjamin (Sid Caesar), a women's underwear manufacturer who would rather have Alby marry his fourth cousin Cheryl (Carol Kane).

The basic conflict, as Alby must choose between his dream girl and career advancement (Uncle Benjamin offers a key loan with strings attached0 is not developed beyond the plot gimmick stage, but "Bridge" works well as an actors' vehicle. Leads Gould and Hemingway are solid in the central roles, with standout support from a large cast. Given perhaps the best opportunity in an off-and-on film career to date (including his starring assignments for William Castle in the 1960s), Caesar is very funny as a man who tries to run everyone else's lives for them. He is extremely moving at the film's moment of catharsis, enduring Gould's ultimate rebellion in a strong last reel scene set at an engagement party.

Kane is delightfully droll as the virginal intellectual whose demure exterior hides a rather kinky fatnasy-sex life. There are also nice spots for an Italian pal played by the ubiquitous Burt Young and a variety of other ethnic types.

Release title is a bit weak, with the dialog plugging most of the discarded monikers for this project: "Alby's Special", "Alby's Delight" and "My Darling Shiksa". The marketing challenge is to find an audience for a nice little film which avoids contemporary hooks in favor of romantic-comedy formulas that worked well in the late 1960s.

"Over the Brooklyn Bridge" is an okay movie...at best. Much of it is because the story is about a guy who is really difficult to like or care about his plight. Had they made Elliott Gould's character at least likable, it could have been a much better film. As it was, I found my interest in the film waning the more I watched.

Alby (Gould) runs a grubby little restaurant in Brooklyn and wants his uncle (Sid Caesar) to help him buy an upscale eatery in Manhattan. However, the uncle is hesitant to give him money because Alby is dating a shiksa (non-Jewish woman). Much of Uncle Benjamin's concerns seem valid...mostly because Alby NEVER has introduced the woman (Margeaux Hemingway) to the family and he seems ashamed of her. However, if Alby drops this two year relationship, the uncle will give him the money. What is Alby to do?

Alby NOT introducing the girlfriend is pretty shameful. But he also just seems like a putz throughout the story....someone who wants to make good but who the audience STILL doesn't care about in any meaningful way.

The direction and editing are choppy and could be much better in addition to the script problems. After all, director Menahem Golan (and his business partner, Yorum Globus) were known as hacks who promoted schlock films during the 1980s. Don't believe this? Try watching their first film "The Apple" or any of their later explosion-riddled action movies!

By the way, the print they showed of this film on Turner Classic Movies is VERY dark and in need of restoration. However, considering it's not exactly a beloved masterpiece, I doubt if this will ever happen.

So OK this is not a great film, but there are several excellent moments here, and at the end you feel you have watched something worthwhile.

Elliott Gould stars as a luncheonette owner making a living in Brooklyn. He has a doting mother (Shelley Winters), a domineering uncle (Sid Caesar), and a non-Jewish girl friend (Margaux Hemingway). He's also overweight, diabetic, and Jewish.

While this seems a lot like Woody Allen territory and their are plenty of comic moments, there's a dark underside of "otherness" here that gives depth to this film, a serious took at perhaps passing as a White American but being always aware of otherness.

Of course all of Gould's extended family here are Jewish stereotypes: the language, the gestures, the work ethic, etc. Gould straddles the fence, White but Jewish, Brooklyn but with an eye toward Manhattan. In the Orthodox wedding scene, Gould wears a baseball cap over his yarmulke. His best friend (Burt Young) is Italian. His employee (Robert Gossett) is Black.

There are two surprising and extraordinary scenes in this film, both quite memorable. One has Gould wandering New York in the wee hours and making a call from a phone booth when he is approached by a speechless derelict gesturing for smokes. He tries to wave him off but eventually hands the old man cigarettes after the old man has urinated on him, a slight twist to doing a good need and getting urinated on for doing it.

The other is the engagement party scene where Caesar pontificates about the upcoming marriage of Gould to his cousin (Carol Kane) unaware that Gould has no such intentions. Caesar thinks the marriage will take place because of a loan he's giving Gould to buy a Manhattan restaurant. He's also gloating for keeping Gould in the fold, i.e., marrying a Jewish girl.

But Gould rebels, stands up for his love for Hemingway, and hands back the check. Caesar tries to bully him and slaps him in front of the astonished guests. Gould does the unthinkable. He literally strikes back, reducing Caesar to a tearful rage that ends in a bear hug of anger, fist pounding, and paternal love. Extraordinary. It's all one scene, no cuts, no editing.

Co-stars include Francine Beers as Ruth, Lynnie Greene as Cynthia, Jerry Lazarus as Caesar's weird son, Zvee Scooler as Rebbe, and Lou David as the loan shark.

Not for all tastes, but this is a surprising film and worth seeking out.

Extremely stereotypical, but I'm using movie with Elliot Gould and Marguax Hemmingway... said Caesar is also on board and he is top-notch along with the rest of the cast editing is choppy and corny... and Hemingway's performance truly haunts me as she should've had a much better career than she did... she is absolutely luminous and does some really terrific emotional work... Elliot Gould is very dependable and lovable in his role... and the chemistry between him and Hemmingway is palpable. A pretty good popcorn movie that could've and should've been better but for what it is... it does very well in it's messaging... and performances, especially with Elliot and Hemingway are top-notch.