The Boynton Beach Bereavement Club

I saw this movie in Deerfield Beach, Fla. on the same day I visited relatives in Boynton Beach, two towns and about 10 miles north. It was highly recommended by these relatives. The story centers around a bereavement group consisting of seniors most of whom (about 8 out of 9) are females. The movie concerns the problems of dating and (what else?) sex, and it handles this pretty well, following three principal characters through their struggles and doubts. It tackles the problems of getting back on ones feet after the demise of a spouse, and perhaps starting a new relationship. The movie addresses the problems of both the men and the women, and does so thoughtfully and sympathetically. I thought there were a few false moments, contrived for effect, but on the whole it was an honest movie which held your attention throughout. The acting was fine, and I would single out Brenda Vaccaro for her fine acting. I rate the picture as a eight (very good), though I am tempted to add more points because it refrains from demeaning older folks and their problems.

Director/co-screenwriter Susan Seidelman is to be congratulated for a movie based on a generation just about totally forgotten in the movies today: seniors. "Old age is not for sissies" says one of the Tshirts in the movie which mainly takes place at a retirement centre in Florida.

Unfortunately it is pretty formulaic with a few truly poignant moments scattered throughout - enough to engage this viewer and hope for more.

Sadly, they remained just a few. Striking performance by Brenda Vaccaro, what a delight, Len Cariou in one of his best performances and Joseph Bologna showing vulnerability. The rest of the cast are more notable for their surgical procedures which border on truly grotesque in the cases of Sally Kellerman and Dyan Cannon.

Maybe one of these days there will be a movie made showing seniors as they really are, with a truly good plot not centred around snaring a man or woman to make them feel complete. And without the distracting trout pouts favoured by far too many.

Not likely, I know.

6 out of 10 for daring to be different.

Most of the reviewers here have rightfully stated that this is perhaps the ONLY movie made in the last 30 years about senior citizens in which they are not lampooned. That's true, to its credit. None of them so far though has called out the singular achievement of the film, and that is its very realistic and romantic treatment of Sally Kellerman and Len Cariou's night of passion. American audiences are extremely prejudiced against showing sexuality among its older population, as if it didn't exist. It does, and it does in this movie. Oh,and by the way: Sally Kellerman, at 68 years old, does nudity in the film, thus making her the most senior American actress ever to have done so. Brava, Sally!

Give director/co-screenwriter Susan Seidelman credit for focusing on a segment sadly neglected in current cinema, single sixty-somethings facing lives without their lifetime partners. There is a gentle, loping quality to this seriocomic 2006 character-driven comedy, but it also doesn't feel quite substantial enough to provide genuine insight into their difficult situations. The various story lines rarely feel more complex than an episode of "The Golden Girls", but the principal actors - some rarely seen outside of guest appearances on reruns of "Murder, She Wrote" - compensate to a great degree.

There are three plot threads that intertwine over the course of the movie. Long-married Marilyn faces an unexpected tragedy when her exercise-obsessed husband is killed by a thoughtless woman backing her car out of a driveway. She decides to join the Boynton Beach Bereavement Club (the movie's original title) upon the prodding of Lois, a still-sexy, flirtatious interior decorator who is the unofficial social leader of the club. As Marilyn faces her anger and loneliness, Lois finds herself drawn to Donald, a younger man whom she believes is a real estate tycoon. Also in the club is Harry, who fancies himself a ladies' man and wants to help Jack, newly widowed and prime bait for the widows in the retirement community. Jack isn't ready to date until he meets Sandy, a very interested woman who isn't quite what she claims. Harry, on the other hand, tries online dating, but he finds trouble with the woman who seems like the ideal match for him.

It's nice to see actors who gained prominence in the late 1960's and early 1970's receive substantive roles in their autumnal years. Brenda Vaccaro ("Midnight Cowboy") as Marilyn and Len Cariou ("The Four Seasons") as Jack deliver the strongest performances because their characters undergo the grief and recovery of losing a loved one. Vaccaro has two particularly compelling scenes – the first where Marilyn introduces herself to the club and cannot conceal the rage over her husband's death, the second when Marilyn finally faces the woman who ran her husband over. Dyan Cannon ("Bob, Carol, Ted & Alice") as Lois and Joseph Bologna as Harry ("My Favorite Year") primarily provide comic relief. Both are as likable as ever, though it's rather disheartening to see Cannon so surgically altered. The same is true of Sally Kellerman ("M*A*S*H") who has to play the concealed Sandy close to the vest. As Donald, Michael Nouri ("Flashdance") plays a character with secrets of his own as he pursues Lois. Seidelman's thoughtful commentary is the only extra on the 2007 DVD.

I saw this movie last evening at the Philadelphia Film Festival. It is that rare unusual movie made for adults. The film takes place in an active adult community in Florida. It shows members of a bereavement group as they regain their lives. The film is mature and well done. Don't go it you want the usual geriatric old people jokes. It treats death and new love with great sensibility.

There were opportunities to poke fun at the elderly but this film takes the high rode and shows them as real people. The scenes of finding love the second time were tender and well done. The audience responded in kind and responded well to the filmabout the film

It is rare to see this sensibility in a film were all the actors are over 60. It is well worth seeing.