Donna è meraviglia

"In Praise of Older Women" is relatively true to the excellent psychological/philosophical novel it is based on. However, the problem is that all its intellectual elements (such as its theories about the reasoning behind promiscuity) are removed in the adaptation. The result is a soft porn movie which is unintentionally hilarious due to awkwardness and bad acting. Andras, the skirt-chasing protagonist, is presented as a dip who throws a temper tantrum when one of his lovers leaves him and delivers lines like "Give us the grand tour, pops." or "This exquisite antique ashtray could be yours if you promise to become my lover." as awkwardly as if he actually knew how lame he sounded (which Tom Berenger, who played him, probably did). A bad acting award should also go to the girl who played Andras´s first teenage girlfriend. She delivers her lines as if the characters she talked to were puppies or newborn babies but then, as my friend pointed out, she actually does act like a stupid flirty girl in her early teens who does not know what she wants in a boyfriend. The actresses who play Andras´s more adult girlfriends admittedly do a better job but still, they mostly play along with the soft porn cliche of upper class semi-intellectuals who treat sex as if it was art collecting or jogging. What do they see in a dork like Andras at their age anyway ? Also, what´s the deal with some of the Hungarian characters having Hungarian accents and the other Magyars having AMERICAN accents ? Nevertheless, I must reemphasize that this movie is fun. It made me laugh more than most typical "comedies" and some of the dramatic scenes, such as the one where Andras must flee Hungary , actually do work dramatically. The sex scenes, while pretty mild by today´s standards, look relatively realistic. The insights into Hungarian culture are interesting too. Nevertheless, trash is trash and I love it !

Tom Berenger plays a young Hungarian having flings with older women.

Pretty much a soft soft soft core porn flick. Really, boy meets girl, boy seduces girl, girl sleeps with boy.

Why are the women such sluts in this film? They will have sex at any opportunity given. Not once does Tom Berenger get turned down for sex. It is quite a boring film but it seems ever 2 minutes Tom Berenger has a new bed buddy. So it ain't that bad. But if you're looking for entertainment, this film aint for you.

My rating.. 1/5.

If you can accept this Canadian made film as light entertainment, and not expect too much, you will definitely enjoy it. Unfortunately, at the time of release,it was unfavorably compared to the novel,and received some undeservedly vicious reviews,but it was a huge hit in Canada, where Helen Shaver received a best supporting Actress award for it.

Tom Berenger is remarkably charismatic as a Hungarian lad who has romances with some of the international cinema's most accomplished(and underrated actresses) actresses, Karen Black, Susan Strasberg, and Alexandra Stewart,after striking out with a girl his age(Marianne MacIsaac, sounding quite like a young Marilyn Monroe). Is's a pleasure to watch the then novice, very handsome Berenger hold his own as an actor against this talented trio. Much was written about the film's sexuality and nudity, but it's not much, except for an extremely heated closing encounter between Tom and Helen Shaver. All in all, a memorable, unique film.

I caught this playing constantly on cable TV late at night back in the early 80s. Not much of a plot. It's just about hunky Tom Berenger (who was only 29 when he made this) seducing one older woman after another. That's all it is--nothing else...but not bad for what it is.

The woman themselves are all very beautiful, have nice bodies and (surprisingly) are good actresses--Karen Black and Helen Shaver especially. The only disappointment in the film was there were next to no full frontal nude shots of Berenger. The women show everything but not him and--let's face it--back then he WAS very handsome and had a great body. There are only flashes of his "best parts" and (for some reason) even THOSE were clumsily edited out the last time I saw the pic (in the mid 80s)! If you're gonna do a soft core pic let's see everything.

That aside it was a light, enjoyable sex film--nothing more. I give it a 7.

'In Praise of Older Women' is one of those films I first saw on late night tv in the 90's as a teen and I cannot lie. It was definitely strong sexual themes, content that caught my eye. I've never forgotten it, but only by chance do I revisit and find myself appreciating it for other elements now. Largely because it's plot headlined by Tom Berenger goes for gravitas in matters of love and fails spectacularly.

András Vayda (Berenger) a young boy in war torn 1940's Hungary loses his father and is raised solely by his mother. An able go between for American GI's, black market supplies grants him his first taste of female pleasure. Now older he finds young women his age difficult and his search for love, sex turns to the mature set. As his country, world changes before him so does he and it's one romance after another, lessons in heartbreak and moving on.

Watching this now, I was surprised at what we young men used to find arousing. We've come a long way with nudity in cinema and what's on display is relatively tame and in much shorter bursts than I recalled. Though I'm not sure what light to view a young boy's encounter with a prostitute under anymore. Erotic? Fantasy? Distasteful?

When that wasn't occupying my mind it was me trying to keep a straight face. Buying into Tom as an awkward young man (he was nearly thirty here). A bit when he reveals contemplating suicide if he didn't get the nerve to ask Maya (Karen Black) to have sex. Then later on offering a woman a ceramic ashtray as a gesture of love. What?

My younger self enjoyed the sex, appreciation for older women even if I couldn't grasp the cinematic badness going on, historical elements. The mature me can see 'In Praise of Older Women' is not a great film and bungles many of it's ideas, theme, but still retains an interesting notion or two.