BROADWAY BOUND
A film review by Ken Johnson
Copyright 1992 Ken Johnson
106 min., not rated, Drama/Comedy, 1992 Director: Paul Bogart Cast: Anne Bancroft, Hume Cronyn, Corey Parker, Jonathan Silverman, Jerry Orbach, Michele Lee
BROADWAY BOUND takes place in Brighton Beach, New York in 1948. Brothers Corey Parker and Jonathan Silverman are working on a sketch that they think might get them into television writing. Michele Lee, Parker's aunt, tries to convince Hume Cronyn, Parker's grandfather, to move to Florida with his wife. Cronyn doesn't want to because he likes it on Brighton Beach. Anne Bancroft (Parker's mother) and Jerry Orbach's (Parker's father) marriage is threatened by their frequent arguments.
BROADWAY BOUND was written for television by Neil Simon based on his play. It is a sequel to Simon's earlier play BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS, which was made into a movie in 1986. Jonathan Silverman was Eugene in the movie version of BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS. In BROADWAY BOUND, Jonathan Silverman plays Stan, Eugene's older brother. BROADWAY BOUND continues the story from BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS, which was set in the 1930's.
I found BROADWAY BOUND to be both a funny and touching film. Like most of Neil Simon's plays, BROADWAY BOUND has dramatic roots. The family is in danger of being broken up. The sons are trying to get into television comedy writing which at times gets them all stressed out. The parents are having problems living together and are constantly fighting. This causes a conflict with the boys too, because they are aware of the fighting but aren't supposed to talk about it. The grandfather's wife, who the grandfather hasn't lived with for years, has to move to Florida because she can't take the cold winters and one of his daughters wants him to go down to live with his wife because his daughter thinks that he is getting too old for cold winters too. But yet, though out the film there are comedy bits thrown in such that they don't take away from the dramatic part of the film but provide a relief so that the drama doesn't get too heavy and bog you down.
BROADWAY BOUND is heavier on the drama than BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS was and a little bit lighter on the comedy. I definitely recommend BROADWAY BOUND for any fan of Neil Simon or anybody who saw BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS and liked it. This would probably not be the best film for someone who easily gets depressed because there are some very sad scenes in the film. On a scale of zero to five, I give BROADWAY BOUND a four. BROADWAY BOUND is made-for-television, ABC to be specific, so it doesn't contain anything objectionable. Because it is made-for- television, if you missed it, you will either have to wait for it to be repeated, find a friend who taped it, or watch to see if it comes to video in several months.
BROADWAY BOUND is one of those films that is written so well you actually start believing that the people in it are real. In fact, this film may be semi-autobiographical since BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS was semi-autobiographical. Because the characters are so believable, I found my self feeling sorry for one of them when something went wrong and happy when something went right. That is one of the things that made me like this movie.
Ken J. blj@mithrandir.cs.unh.edu
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