Brighton Beach Memoirs

This is a gently amusing coming-of-age comedy that comes from the later, more mature period of Neil Simon's writing. Although there are plenty of wisecracks to go around, this is not one of those Neil Simon pieces where every character spouts out one-liner jokes for 2 hours like they're guest stars on a Bob Hope special. There are also dramatic elements (some work, some are overkill) that lend some weight to the story.

The performances are good across the board, especially Blythe Danner as the mother (although she and Judith Ivey were oddly WASP-ish choices to play Jewish women). I've never been a fan of Jonathan Silverman, but I will say that he hits the right notes as the obnoxious, gawky, and totally horned-up teen-age narrator/protagonist of the story.

The movie is very similar in tone to Woody Allen's "Radio Days," but the latter is far more imaginative and funny than this one.

The viewer who said he was disappointed seems to be wildly missing the point here. This is a superb movie, excellent and realistic portrayals of a middle class Jewish family in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, of long ago. The nuances are perfect and I felt the casting of everyone was superior. I especially found the acting done by Judith Ivey just perfection---especially the speech she has with her daughter when the daughter comes home late one night. That scene was Oscar worthy. But, really, all the acting was fine. I recommend this movie. It is a fun, family film and delightful to see how a lovely middle class family lived in Brooklyn so long ago. See it and you will be glad you did. Has some very funny lines and the Eugene character is a real comedian--very funny.

One of my top five comedies ever. You'll appreciate it more if your a guy who came of age in the 1930's-60's. I identify so much with this movie, especially the bathroom scene, when Eugene's 15 year old cousin Nora accidentally walks in on him while he's "on the crapper." This actually happened to me when I was 10, and let me tell you there is no worse horror for a boy at that age. Eugene worries that his life was over, as I did. I also remember my first time seeing a picture of a naked woman. A very tame pose by today's standards, but like Eugene, there was a sense of relief that the quest was finally over. No more was it just the occasional breast shot, I too had seen "The Golden Palace of the Himalayas." Jonathan Silverman's running narration is hilarious and really makes the movie for me. Well worth the investment time-wise, IMO.

Brilliant! Eugene is just like any 15 year old boy. Silverman comes out with some very funny lines with his mother : 'Theres a bone in my throat' 'THERE ARE NO BONES IN LOVER!' And when they are sat at the table at dinner Voice over-'The tension was so tense i would of cut my wrists but the liver had blunted the knifes'

So if you haven't seen this film go and see right now.

Go and search for and see the golden palace in the himalayes!

With the exception of the miscasting of Danner, this adaptation of Neil Simon's autobiographical play is well transfered to film with Silverman taking over where Matthew Broderick left off on the Broadway stage. Silverman stars as Eugene Morris Jerome, a 15 year old aspiring to be a writer with only two things on his mind - baseball and sex. The film captures the essence of Simon's upbringing with a comedic look at the trials and tribulations of growing up in a crowded Jewish household. Dishy is wonderful as the father. Keep an eye out for a young Jason Alexander as a pool shark.