2server

For the first time ever, I am giving a score of 1 for this wretched - this truly wretched and awful film. The action is glacial and is a pastiche of silly feedbacks that try to amuse but do not. A terrible waste of comedic talent here. The few moments that Bette Midler and Danny DeVito are allowed to come forth are all too brief. Shame on the producers of this horror and double shame on the people who think this worthless film is good. Those few respondents who mentioned that was the best film that they ever saw need to go more often to the cinema. Enough said - go peel potatoes or something. You have better things to do than waste your time on this.

A masterpiece despite the contrived ending. Hollywood ordained that Bette Davis (Leslie Crosbie) pay the price in the end, whereas in the novella Leslie Crosbie would forever live with the knowledge that she would never have back the only man she truly loved. The acting is tremendous and the sets are awesome. I can never get tired of this film - a product of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Bravo.

This movie was a disaster of sorts in that it failed miserably at the box office perhaps due to its very strong Jewish content. Nevertheless for the Jewish audience it is a fantastic comedy where we laugh at ourselves. There are some flies in the ointment. As always the Jewish boy in question can not have a Jewish girl-friend. Hollywood does not accept the fact that Jews marry Jews and Alby ( a rather fat Elliot Gould!!) is no exception, but his shiksa is worth her weight in gold. A Jewish mother would kill to have a daughter-in-law as caring as Elizabeth is to her diabetic shlemiel of a son. Margaux Hemingway (may she rest in peace) is wonderful in this role. We lost a terrific actress here. The Family is a pastiche of all the stereotypes we Jews love and hate so well: the rich uncle who is a tough businessman with a heart of gold and his bitch of a wife and useless son. The usual hangers-on and assorted nebbishes who work for him are there - God this fits my family to a "T" !!! The scene at the synagogue is wonderful and the Lubliner Rebbe is well interpreted by the great Zvi Scooler. The celebration at the Rumanian restaurant is word for word exact of whatever we had in the 1950's. Shelly Winters is a great actress her role is a treat to watch. Her outburst at the restaurant is the hit of the show. When we heard the audience gasp (99% Jewish) I felt that the movie was an effective comedy - but I also knew that a 99% gentile audience would not see the humour and sadly I was right.

This is a marginal film and must be accepted as such but that is too bad because there is enough in there to amuse everybody. Elliot Gould and his friend Nick played by my favorite cro-magnon Burt Young are a pair of shleppers that you have to love - that piss scene is wild. The scene in Uncle Benjamin's house with the plastic on the chairs must be preserved in a Jewish museum - that is exactly how we were!!! Sid Caesar is Uncle Benjamin and is a delight. His acting ranges from shtick meshuga to Shakespearean pathos. Anyway grab a copy at the local Blockbusters or whatever and invite the family and...enjoy!! To hell with the bad reviews - what do "they" know ?????