Lost in yonkers trailer
Lost in Yonkers (film)
American film
For the play, see Lost in Yonkers.
Lost in Yonkers is a American film adaptation of Neil Simon's Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name, directed by Martha Coolidge. It stars Irene Worth, Mercedes Ruehl, and Richard Dreyfuss. It was the first theatrical feature film to be edited on Avid Media Composer.
It was the last film to use the – Columbia Pictures logo.
Brad stoll lost in yonkers We were all pacing, and I was shaking so badly I could hardly breathe. Her husband, Eddie Kurnitz, needs to take a job as a traveling salesman to pay the medical bills incurred, so he decides to ask his stern and straight-talking mother from whom he is slightly estranged if his two early-teen sons, Jay and Arty whom she insists on calling by their full given names, Jacob and Arthur, which she pronounces "Yakob" and "Artur" , can live with her and their Aunt Bella Kurnitz in Yonkers. Another liability is that Richard Dreyfuss hams his way through a role that was played with dignity and poignancy on stage by Kevin Spacey. The Murphy is a fully restored seat venue.Plot
In , following the death of their mother, year-old Jay Kurnitz and his year-old brother Arty move from the Bronx to Yonkers to live temporarily with their strict, stern Grandma Kurnitz and her daughter Aunt Bella, so that their father Eddie can take a traveling sales job and pay off his late wife's medical debt. Grandma's harsh upbringing of her own children has estranged all of them but Bella, who has the mind and emotions of a child despite being in her mids.
Grandma, whom Eddie has avoided visiting and who did not get along with his now-deceased wife, at first refuses to take in the boys, but Bella is happy to see them and uncharacteristically stands up to Grandma, threatening to move out into "the home" for those with mental conditions and leave Grandma all alone if she doesn't let the boys stay.
Jay and Arty do not enjoy living under Grandma's strict rules. Upon learning from Bella that Grandma has hidden $15, somewhere in the house and attached candy store, the boys try to find it so they can pay off their father's debt and he can return home. Meanwhile, the boys' Uncle Louie, a mobster, returns to his mother's house to hide from another mobster, Hollywood Harry, who is stalking him hoping to get what Louie has in a black bag.
Louie responded to Grandma's harsh upbringing by becoming tough and independent, and starting a life of thievery and crime at a young age. Louie encourages the boys to have similar "moxie", but also reveals to them that Grandma herself was traumatized at age 12, when she saw police kill her father and was herself permanently disabled in the ensuing riot.
Irene worth Susan Merson Gert. Plot [ edit ]. Lost In Yonkers. Peter Gannon Cop.As a result, Grandma believes people must be "like steel" in order to simply survive.
Bella has fallen in love with Johnny, the head usher at the local movie house, who like her is mentally slow and lives with his parents. Bella and Johnny plan to get married and open their own restaurant, for which they need $, which Bella hopes to convince Grandma to give her.
After agonizing about how to discuss this with Grandma, Bella announces it at a family dinner attended by Louie and their sister Gert, whose fear of Grandma caused her to develop a speech impediment. Grandma disapproves of the match, causing Bella to break down crying and leave the house, moving in with Gert.
That night, Jay helps Louie steal Hollywood Harry's car and escape with the black bag. Louie later calls Bella to tell her he's now the "richest guy in Guadalcanal."
Bella now has $ (later revealed to have been given to her by Louie) but discovers that Johnny is too afraid to marry her or open a restaurant.
She returns to Grandma's house where they have an emotional confrontation. Grandma's stern harshness is shown to be her reaction to not only her own childhood trauma, but also grief from the deaths of her husband and two of her children at young ages. Bella agrees to move back in with Grandma on the condition that Bella will lead a more independent life.
Eddie returns from his business travels and reclaims his sons, who leave Grandma a loving farewell card. In the final scene of the film (which implies, but does not explicitly show, Grandma's death), Bella leaves Yonkers for good and sends Eddie and the boys a postcard from Florida, where she has gotten a restaurant job.
Cast
Broadway play
Main article: Lost in Yonkers
After eleven previews, the Broadway production, directed by Gene Saks, opened on February 21, , at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, where it ran for performances. The original cast included Jamie Marsh, Irene Worth, Mercedes Ruehl, and Kevin Spacey.
Reception
The film holds a score of 71% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 17 reviews.[2] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "B+" on scale of A+ to F.[3]
Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four and wrote, "All of the performances are good, but one of them, by Mercedes Ruehl, casts a glow over the entire film."[4] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune awarded two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, "A wonderful play about a classically unhappy household that has been turned into a typical, mechanical Neil Simon joke machine.
Simon's stage words rarely transfer well to the more realistic arena of film, and this is no exception. Another liability is that Richard Dreyfuss hams his way through a role that was played with dignity and poignancy on stage by Kevin Spacey."[5] Janet Maslin of The New York Times described the film as "sometimes more picturesque than powerful.
But it conveys all the warmth and color of the original material."[6] Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote "Story of a domineering old woman's tyranny over two generations of offspring is adroitly structured and contains strong human elements, but what proved so affecting onstage seems a bit pat and calculated when viewed in closeup."[7] Peter Rainer of the Los Angeles Times described the film as "essentially deep-dish Neil Simon, which is, after all, not so very deep.
But neither is the play negligible; it has a felt, melancholy undertow, and Ruehl and Worth, who both won Tonys for their performances on Broadway, bring out its full, racking sadness."[8] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote "In the film version, with Ruehl and Worth repeating their Tony-winning roles, Simon intensifies the barrage of belly laughs and bathos.
Director Martha Coolidge, whose Rambling Rose was a model of graceful literary adaptation, seems at a loss with the crass material."[9]
References
- ^"AFI&#;Catalog". . Retrieved 15 November
- ^"Lost in Yonkers". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 5,
- ^"Cinemascore".
Archived from the original on
- ^Roger Ebert (May 14, ). "Lost In Yonkers".Lost in yonkers play Illya Haase Harry's Crony. In the final scene of the film which implies, but does not explicitly show, Grandma's death , Bella leaves Yonkers for good and sends Eddie and the boys a postcard from Florida, where she has gotten a restaurant job. Mercedes Ruehl Bella. Despite their grandmother owning and operating a candy store, Jay and Arty do not like their new living situation.
. Retrieved
- ^Siskel, Gene (May 14, ). "Siskel's Flicks Picks". Chicago Tribune. Section 7, page D.
- ^Maslin, Janet (May 14, ).
Lost in yonkers cleveland: Categories : films s American films s coming-of-age comedy-drama films s English-language films comedy-drama films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American films based on plays Columbia Pictures films English-language comedy-drama films Films based on works by Neil Simon Films directed by Martha Coolidge Films produced by Ray Stark Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Films set in the s Films set in the Bronx Films set in Westchester County, New York Films with screenplays by Neil Simon. Trivia The movie theatre that flashes "Bijou" on the vertical Marquee is, in reality, the Murphy Theatre on Main Street in Wilmington, Ohio which was one of the shooting locations for the movie. Jack Laufer Eddie. Runtime 1 hour 54 minutes.
"Simon's Serious Comedy Of Contemporary Nostalgia". The New York Times. C
- ^McCarthy, Todd (May 10, ). "Reviews: Lost in Yonkers".Lost in yonkers theater j He is considered by Grandma Kurnitz to be the "survivor" of the family. Goofs The movie is supposedly set in but some of the cars seen in the movie are post World War II models. He is shown to be, much like his sisters, a nervous wreck around Grandma. After a year of auditioning for parts, going into the city two or three times a week and spending so much time and money, even taking speech lessons to get rid of my New York accent, I decided that it wasn't worth it.
Variety.
- ^Rainer, Peter (May 14, ). "Neil Simon Gets Serious in 'Lost in Yonkers'". Los Angeles Times. F8.
- ^Travers, Peter (May 27, ). "Lost in Yonkers". Rolling Stone. No.&#; p.&#;