Souvenirs de Chicago

This is my absolute favorite movie, and I think the best film Armyan Bernstein ever did. It covers everything about life - love, friendship, growing up, careers, living and dying. The acting is first-rate all around, especially Josh Mostel and John Shea - I'm not really a John Shea fan generally, but I loved him in this film. The brilliant script manages to weave several interesting sub-plots involving the supporting characters into the two main story lines - the love story between Danny (Shea) and Emily (Kate Capshaw), and the friendship between Danny and Sol (Josh Mostel) who, at the beginning of the movie is languishing in a hospital with cancer and bemoaning the fact that he and Danny and their friends never became pirates. Although the movie is poignant, even heart-wrenching at moments, there are liberal doses of great humor sprinkled throughout. Bernstein did an excellent job of putting surprising twists on some classic movie clichés. The ending is nothing short of perfect.

A "feel-good movie" where the good feelings are believable, "Windy City" is a little-known film about a group of middle-aged Chicagoans whose lives, quite realistically, haven't turned out the way they dreamed. Danny (John Shea) is a would-be writer lacking the self-discipline and courage to write, and also lacking the courage to tell ex-girlfriend Emily (Kate Capshaw) how he feels about her... until it's too late and she's married someone else. Then there's Sol (Josh Mostel), who inspires his friends to boldly follow their dreams and live with passion... but who is quickly dying himself. Sound like a bummer? It's not. Sol inspires not just his friends but the audience as well with his joie de vivre and carpe diem messages, and perhaps it's not too late after all for our wishes to come true. A movie about love and friendships, with a nice touch about mortality and the afterlife, but mostly about the positivity of living life like a capital-R Romantic. "What's it about? It's about a guy who still believes in happy endings."

I saw this movie some years ago... now I bought it !!! I like the story because it`s real... A nice and simple story of real people.. people that win and looses !! Danny, our hero, jumps the bridge and fall into the water...! his girlfriend married another guy ...! his most loved friend, dies.. and the friends team looses the football game !

Something that happens with real people all the time... Life is not a stupid Hollywood movie... Life is always about winners and loosers. Excellent performances of John Shea and Kate Capeshaw and beautiful music in the middle of a great and loving city. I really recommend this movie ...

It's a shame that this movie is only available in VHS format, from sources like Amazon. The quality of any older movie is greatly enhanced in digital format, plus it is more readily available, easier to store, and cheaper to ship. Casting for this movie was magnificent, too bad it was only produced as a "made for TV" production. If you like Chicago footage of the North Shore along Lake Michigan, the movie is worth seeing for that reason alone. There is a love story, the protagonist loses and tries to regain the affection of the love of his life. But the real theme of the movie is friendships, how they sustain boys becoming men, as they age and their lives change. "The Rogues," a group from the old neighborhood, grow older, but they don't necessarily "grow up." This is a light but not a frivolous movie, and it speaks well for the human condition. Acquire a copy, and save it for a moment when you need a breath of fresh air, a hug, & some dark roast. No disappointments!

This is the type of movie they don't really make anymore--the loser writer tires to make sense of his life and tries to get the girl back and make his friends all work out (although the upcoming American Splendor kind of has that look to it). Earnest looking John Shea spends most of the movie trying to get all his pieces to fit in Chicago. Kate Capshaw is beautiful, looking like nothing less than a movie star.