SWEET LORRAINE
A film review by Miriam Nadel
Copyright 1987 Miriam Nadel
There used to be an ad for Levy's rye bread which said, "You don't have to be Jewish" and the sentiment is appropriate for this movie as well. The "Sweet Lorraine" of the title is a small Catskills hotel, suffering from competition with ritzier places. The plot is a simple one--Molly Garber, the granddaughter of the Lorraine's owner, arrives to work for the summer and falls in love with the hotel, while her grandmother is debating whether or not to sell and close the place.
What really makes this movies work is the small touches. The actors are all wonderful, making you believe these characters are really part of your own family. Maureen Stapleton plays Lillian Garber, the hotel owner, and everyone's grandmother (or at least favorite aunt.) She is surrounded by such quirky characters that there are plenty of laughs to round out the warmth. It would probably take more than one viewing to catch all of the little jokes-- from the social director's "aerobics" classes to the inter-hotel softball games (the Lorraine's team is called the "Lox Sox") from the mahjongg games to the waiter who dyes his hair red, white, and blue for the 4th of July party.
Intermeshed with the fate of the hotel and the slice-of-life humor, there are three love stories. Molly falls in love with the hotel handyman (who isn't Jewish but Lillian lets her get away with it.) Lillian herself has a lover, Sam, who runs the kitchen. One of the nicest touches is the portrayal of Lillian and Sam's relationship, which treats the love between two elderly people more respectfully than any movie since ON GOLDEN POND. Finally, there is the love affair between all of the staff and guests and the hotel itself.
This movie gets 4 stars from me. See it with your mother.
Miriam Nadel INTERNET: mhnadel@gryphon.CTS.COM UUCP: {hplabs!hp-sdd, sdcsvax, ihnp4, nosc}!crash!gryphon!mhnadel UUCP: {philabs, trwrb}!cadovax!gryphon!mhnadel
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