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I'm with the room, this film has been sadly overlooked as it was at the time of it's release (even Mazursky champion Pauline Kael was Luke warm) and deserves to be seen.

I think this sort of autobiographical film had sort of been overdone, so Mazurky's film was lumped in as "one of those." What was missed, I think, was his unsentimental, adult perspective on the time and place, on what it meant to be young and bright. He gives us something of what the beak nick world might have been like, unlike the silly portrayals done AT THE TIME.

Lenny Baker, in his only major lead, is excellent along with the entire cast. Christopher Walken makes an impression without the hamming that would later endear him to so many.

This is not a great film but it is sweet and has it's moments. It also has a cast of soon to be stars. While it was interesting to see Shelley Winters when she could still pull off dark hair, it was even more interesting to see a young Christopher Walken and a young Jeff Goldblum. Also seen are Vincent Schiavelli of character actor fame and an almost microsecond uncredited cameo by Bill Murray.

The movie isn't great but for a movie fan its worth the time if for no other reason to see if you can spot all of the soon to be's.

I always try to see movies that aren't very well known. I do like to watch blockbusters as well, but I think that not every movie that didn't get too much attention isn't worth anything. Sometimes I discover some nice little gems. Sometimes, but not this time although it certainly isn't as bad as you might fear now...

This movie starts with a young man who is about to leave his parents home so he can live on his own and become an actor. Of course this goes hand in hand with a lot of drama, as mom doesn't want to see her 'little boy' leave the house so soon. But his mind has been made up and Larry Lapinsky moves from Brooklyn to Greenwich Village. Here he meets new people and soon he has a lot of friends, all with their own problems and worries...

This movie has some excellent moments to offer (for instance when mom shows up with a chicken, because she fears that her son doesn't get enough to eat), but sometimes it could have been a bit more subtle in my opinion. It was a bit too stereotypical to be a really great movie, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth a watch of course. I give it a 6.5/10.

The endearing qualities of the characters seem very true to the time to me. I grew up in the 50's, and the scenes of his neighborhood were a wonderful backdrop for the times. The family, the friends, and the events that happen are believable and at times most amusing. Shelly Winters is always outstanding and she delivers in her role as the lead character's Mother. The character of Sarah is very beautiful, although by today's standards both of the young characters would not be cast. Not because they lack character, but because they seem like real people, not Hollywood clones.It was a different world as far as social mores and this glimpse into the heart of a young actor dealing with life through humor and love was most enjoyable.

When I think of this film, I think of my older brother's generation, graduating from high school about 1956, and from college about 1960. Mazursky catches the look of a certain kind of young people of that era, their fashions, their expressions, their masks and identities. There's a sense of confusion and discovery, or rejection of the restrictions of middle class culture and their embracing of a murkily-defined bohemian alternative, and the disruption that brings to their lives, culturally, socially, sexually.

The film also reminds me of my years spent living near and wandering around Greenwich Village, 1966-70. Some of the kinds of people Mazursky shows were still there, ten years older, either mystified or amused or annoyed by the hippie hoards invading them. Honky-tonk, high rents, and mass culture bohemianism had arrived.

Mazursky gets this right. I don't know how this picture would play to those not interested or affected by the sociology time capsule, but I think it still would play.

And hats off to Shelly Winters, once again playing an impossible mother.