Customer Reviews

Crossing Delancey

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Crossing Delancey" is presumed at first a romance, and it is. Deeper than the romance is a search for meaning. This two-level movie is funny with an undercurrent of a genuine plot stronger than the usual romantic comedy.

Part of the ego-driven, superficial but pretentious New York literary scene, Isabelle Grossman brings together writers and other literati for soirees feting the personalities behind the books.

Isabelle, or Izzy, herself is not a writer, but feels she is important because of the names and numbers in her Rolodex. She works hard and late, only to go home to an empty apartment. Her only love is accommodating the occasional lonely nights of a friend who fights with his wife. She tolerates his affections in what amounts to be no more than a recurring one-night stand.

Although Izzy's emptiness surrounds her, she never notices it, not even when her grandmother has a matchmaker attempt setting her up with Sam, a neighbor bachelor. Unfortunately for Sam, her intentions are set on Anton, a dashing, but caddish author whose books are bestsellers. He only wants her to appease his desires, and has no love for her, but she is blind to his true intentions. She curtly rejects another date with Sam.

With a single romantic signal, Pickleman Sam, the man she pushed away in a matchmaking dinner now effectively woos her heart into confusion. He had noticed her years ago and now happily accepted the chance to be introduced by the matchmaker. When he tells her this, a spark is lit. He isn't the suave author she begs for, and his lifestyle is more simple than those whose books are reviewed in the New York Times. She fumbles opportunity after opportunity to connect with Sam, but he is patient.

Anton makes advances that are alluring to Izzy as her heart tries to reconcile her fondness for Sam. This conflict causes Izzy to ask the important questions about integrity, meaning and happiness.

With the light, but poignant backdrop of her Jewish family and friends, this romance makes statements both serious and comedic. Outside of the periodic stereotyping of Jewish grandmothers, it works.

I fully recommend "Crossing Delancey."

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

"Crossing Delancey," directed by Joan Micklin Silver, tells the story of Isabelle (also known as "Izzy"), a single Jewish woman who lives in New York City and works for a bookstore. Izzy's loving but meddling Bubbie (i.e. grandmother), upset that Izzy is still single, sees a matchmaker about finding Izzy a husband. Izzy soon finds her life complicated by the results of Bubbie's actions.

"Crossing" is a sweet, gentle, and marvelously funny film. As Izzy, Amy Irving gives a wonderfully likeable and full-bodied performance. She is fun to watch as Izzy navigates her way through awkward social and professional situations. Irving gets terrific support from the rest of the cast, which includes Peter Riegert as a romantic pickle vendor and Jeroen Krabbe as a writer. Sylvia Miles is hilariously over-the-top as the matchmaker, and Reizl Borzyk nearly steals the film as Bubbie. Borzyk has particularly great chemistry with Irving.

The film features great New York scenes, and the visuals are full of wonderful details (such as a priceless storefront ad for Kosher wine). The script makes effective use of the ethnic theme. This is a simple story, but told with warmth and intelligence. And the film does ask a serious question: what do you really think is important in a potential life partner? For a great companion film, try "Kissing Jessica Stein," another delightful New York/Jewish romantic comedy.

I fell in love with this wonderful movie when I originally saw it in the theatre, and my daughter has loved it from the age of 3.

Isabelle (Amy Irving) is a nice Jewish girl, but STILL unbearably single in the eyes of her Bubba, played by a loveable Reizl Boyzk. Bubba can't understand why Isabelle is content with being single and living in a "cage" of an apartment. She enlists the help of a hilariously over the top matchmaker played by Andy Warhol veteran Sylvia Miles, to find "Izzy's" ideal mate.

From there, Izzy, as bubba calls her, hesitantly accepts a meeting with Pickle stand owner Sam Posner. Sam is a charmingly likeable and attractive mensch of a guy, played by the wonderful, and rarely seen Peter Reigert ("Animal House", "Oscar" and Seinfeld's last episode). Over lunch at Bubbas, Isabelle ALMOST accepts the date, you can tell part of her sees that Sam IS special. However, she just can't get past her snobbish ideals to see past his "provincial" lifestyle and career to appreciate a man who is unpretentious and genuine.

After being used enough times by a good for nothing married boyfriend, then fixing up a less attractive friend with Sam, and finding herself extremely jealous, she begins to change her mind. The final shove to reality comes in the form of a phony womanizing french writer in town who Izzy idealizes, and gets used again. It is then that she finally opens her eyes and sees that Sam is as her bubbe (grandmother) would say, "good as gold".

This is one of the greatest love stories ever lensed, although it doesn't carry the same cache that many similar love stories such as "Moonstruck" do. Certainly not because it is undeserving of the status, but that's just Hollywood. The stars are not the big names, so less recognition here. This film is superior in my opinion though. It's got a special magic from the ethnicity, the well drawn characters, and the wonderful lower Manhattan setting where we get many wonderful shots of landmarks like the Williamsburg Bridge. Bubbe has a great view of it from her project apartments terrace.

If you're looking for a movie that will make you feel good, or a romantic film to watch with the one you love, cross over to this side of filmaking. This is an unusually fresh and clean romantic tale, devoid of sex to tell it's love story. It's like a throwback to a more innocent time in filmaking like all the Rock Hudson/Doris Day features, and other comedy/romance films of the past. This film retains that magic while still being updated and modern without losing the old fashioned charm it offers in abundance. For this reason, as I said before, it is also a great viewing pleasure for the entire family as well. A rarity in modern film making.

Put mildly, this blows away 99% of the romantic comedies out there these days!

I rather enjoyed this story of how a beautiful, intelligent woman finds true love in the absolute LAST place one would ever think of looking. Amy Irving brings an amazing depth, realness and understanding of the struggles of old vs new ways to the character of Izzy, on the one hand, striving to be part of the literary world while taking care of her grandmother, perpetually trying to fix up Izzy old-world style (hiring a matchmaker played with hilarious sizzle by Sarah Miles). Izzy starts to fall for an arrogant self-absorbed author of trashy novels while the one who really can love her fully for who she is is right under her nose at the neighborhood pickle stand.

It's hilarious watching how Izzy is slowly convinced of Sam's (Peter Reigert) realness and genuine caring for her, and of course, Izzy waking up to the reality that her author wants nothing more than an administrative assistant he can sleep with. And even in the midst of all the laughs, the film comes across as EXTREMELY believable and lets you into the world of its characters and NEVER lapses into trashiness or crassness.

There are unique comic moments aplenty, like Izzy having "Some Enchanted Evening" sung to her while at a diner with her best girlfriend, the near-disastrous first encounters with Sam, and a hilariously harrowing taxi-ride (the driver is just learning how to drive while his mother talks him through it) that leads her back to true love.

In an era of lame special effects movies and actors that can't act to save their lives, "Crossing Delancey" is a breath of fresh air of believable characters that you can actually care about and have depth, excellent writing AND acting and brisk comedic pacing! Can't recommend it enough!

Every once in a while, I come across a film who's central characters are so honest in their look, sound and feel, that they could easily be long lost members of my own family. Crossing Delancey is one of those rare films. One that I can easily watch over and over, particularly when I need a little 'pick me up'. Peter Riegert's 'Sam' is so charming and genuine in his demeanor that 'Izzy', once the two are introduced, stands little chance of escaping back to her artificial and mostly barren existence among the cultured elite.

Having been born and raised in a city tenement, I remember thinking back then in much the same way as Izzy. Given the opportunity, it was a place from which I wanted to be far removed. Izzy makes the classic mistake of confusing her need to better herself and her surroundings with her almost compulsive need to divorce herself from the very people who know, love and best understand her. Her journey back to the realization that, regardless of where she lives and works, Izzy will always be from the same cut of cloth as the people from whom she had been trying to escape, is ultimately what makes this movie worth watching.

In most films, there's a standout moment or a scene, and Crossing Delancey is no exception. Blessed with a great cast (Izzy's grandmother steals the show), the film is riddled with humorous and sometimes very funny moments. However, it is one of the film's more serious and unsettling moments (I refer to the classic scene at the eatery where the 'has been' torch singer with the tip can appears to sing directly to Izzy), that seems to capture, for me, the magic of Crossing Delancey. Overall, a charming winner of a film that is made significantly better by a wonderful and offbeat Roche sisters soundtrack.

THIS IS A WONDERFUL SWEET STORY. THE PERFORMANCES ARE OUTSTANDING AND THE STORY LINE IS BOTH FUNNY AND ETHNICALLY ACCURATE. SEE IT AND FEEL GOOD. I HAVE IT ON VHS AND AM ANXIOUSLY WAITING FOR A DVD FORMAT. WHY IT HASN'T COME OUT YET IS BEYOND ME. IF THE STUDIO DOESN'T RELEASE A DVD FORMAT,THIS WONDERFUL MOVIE WILL BE LOST. SO SAD WHEN YOU CONSIDER ALL THE TRASH MOVIES THAT HAVE COME OUT ON DVD...

Update: Its out on DVD!!! Yeah!!!

Writing as a professional theologian I can say without reservation that the fact that this film is not on DVD is a sin on someone's part of the highest (lowest?) order.

This is my wife (32 years) and my "our movie" and we too have worn out the VHS version. I wanted to get the DVD for our anniversary and alas, it is not to be.

Shame!

I hate to use the word "adorable", but, I must. This film is just adorable. The story of Izzy, the sophisticated, independent, N.Y. City career girl (wonderfully played by Amy Irving), and "Sam , The Pickle Man", (also wonderfully played by Paul Riegert), is a heartwarming, funny, sweet love story. Izzys "Bubby" hires a marriage broker, hysterically played by Sylvia Miles, to "match-up" her granddaughter, "Miss Fancy", who she perceives as living a lonely life.."A dog should live alone !" Izzy is involved in the literary world, and aspires to an intellectual, sophisticated life, only miles away, but a million miles away from the old -world kosher existance of her beloved Bubby. Reizl Bezyk ,who was a popular star in Yiddish theater, plays Bubby, and she is really the outstanding character in this movie. Her practical, no-nonsense approach to life & love, with a kind of "you're born, you eat, you love, you die" mentality, is in direct opposition to granddaughter Isabelles (Izzy). She speaks in "Bubby-isms", and she is hysterical, implying the world in just a look. Izzy immediatley rejects the arranged match-up with Riegerts "Sam", the pickle man, simply because she can't get past the pickles. She sees the pretentious Russian author, to whom she is associated in her job at an old book store, as being more complementary to her. He is a cad who woos her with quotes from Confucious, and he can offer her the prestige and entree into the world of intelligensia that she aspires to be in. The ensuing conflict, between the world she hopes for, and the opportunity that's right in front of her... that she won't see, is very touching and funny. This is just a great little love story about sometimes finding what you're looking for in the most un-likely package, and not letting your pre-conceived expectations get in the way. It is beautifully filmed around wonderful Manhattan locations, and the soundtrack by "The Roches" perfectly complements the story as it happens. A terrific little "feel-good" movie... and you're gonna love that "Bubby."

Crossing Delancey is one of the most intelligent, sweet, REAL love stories ever. Made a Peter Riegert fan of me... he makes all the "pretty boy" protagonists look shallow and plastic. I have given away two copies of the VHS version, and am rapidly wearing out the third. I can see a definite need for a DVD.

It has taken nearly twenty years for this bittersweet 1988 romantic comedy to make it to DVD, but it is a welcome return since director Joan Micklin Silver and writer Susan Sandler effectively convey the angst of a thirtysomething Jewish woman constantly looking to reconcile her past with her present. Without going overboard on ethnic stereotypes, it focuses on Isabelle "Izzy" Grossman, who works in a Manhattan bookstore which has become a magnet for the literary intelligentsia. In typically formulaic fashion, she is a typical urban single who spends her free time with her girlfriends or at home alone when she is not providing shelter for a married friend who is constantly fighting with his wife.

What makes this story unique is Izzy's close relationship with her opinionated grandmother, Bubbie, who lives in the working-class Lower East Side. Bubbie is determined to see Izzy get married and hires a mouthy broker to find an appropriate suitor. Enter Sam Posner, who owns the local pickle store and has to dip his fingers in vanilla to rid himself of the smell. A thoroughly grounded mensch, he initially doesn't excite Izzy, who has become smitten with the intellectual pretension of an egocentric Dutch author, Anton Maes. There's a lot of hemming and hawing before the inevitable conclusion with scenes both inspired and predictable along the way. There are several lightly amusing bits like a restaurant roundelay where Izzy tries to pawn Sam off to an anxious girlfriend. Never the most electrifying of actresses, Amy Irving provides a becalming assurance as Izzy and makes us feel for her as she grapples with her small-scale dilemmas. Irving manages to make Izzy rather sympathetic even when she is manipulating Sam's affections.

The incessantly low-key Peter Riegert is likable as Sam, and he leavens his relatively bland presence with his character's plaintively romantic overtures toward Izzy. He has a nice moment when he explains to Izzy why he decided to move forward with the arranged meeting. I just wish the two actors had more opportunities to articulate the characters' inner conflicts and a greater sense of romantic chemistry. In her only screen performance, veteran Yiddish theater performer Reizl Bozyk plays Bubbie with infectious energy even if she is confined within her ethnic stereotype. As Anton, Jeroen Krabbé adds to his gallery of smug European aristocrats, though at least this time with a jaded sense of humor. Sylvia Miles is her over-the-top self in the gratefully brief role of the matchmaker, while folk singer Suzzy Roache does well as Izzy's cynical girlfriend Marilyn. In fact, the Roaches are the ones who provide the background music here. The 2007 DVD only offers the original theatrical trailer as an extra.