LOST IN YONKERS
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli
Rating: 7.8 out of 10 (B, **1/2 out of ****)
Date Released: 5/14/93 Running Length: 1:53 Rated: PG (Mature themes)
Starring: Richard Dreyfus, Mercedes Ruehl, Irene Worth, Brad Stoll,
Mike Damus
Director: Martha Coolidge
Producer: Ray Stark
Screenplay: Neil Simon (based on his play)
Music: Elmer Bernstein
Released by Columbia Pictures
It's the early 1940s in New York and the country is at war. When the father of young Jay (Brad Stoll) and Arty (Mike Damus) has to go on a prolonged business trip through the southern states (he fell heavily in debt paying his dying wife's hospital bills and now he has to find a way to make enough money to keep the loan sharks from killing him), he leaves his sons with his mother (Irene Worth), who owns a candy store in Yonkers. Grandma is a cold, cruel person who believes that boys should not cry and metes out punishment with an iron fist, and both of her grandsons quickly learn to fear and hate her. Also living in the house is Bella (Mercedes Ruehl), the boys' childlike, wacky aunt who wants nothing more than to have someone to hold and love. Stopping in for a few days is Bella's gangster brother, Louie (Richard Dreyfus), a small-time operator who teaches his nephews a few lessons about life.
As is often true of stories penned by play-and-screenwriter Neil Simon, this is a simple tale about simple people. No momentous or earth-shattering events take place, and there's nothing that one would normally believe worth making a movie about. In fact, for about the first third of the film, it looks like the decision to finance this project was a mistake. Except for a few humorous vignettes, this part of LOST IN YONKERS is dull and unspectacular.
Richard Dreyfus has top billing, but he's not in much of the movie. Nevertheless, despite limited screen time, Dreyfus' Louie is a pivotal character, giving impetus to the story. LOST IN YONKERS is almost half over by the time Louie makes his first appearance and he's gone before the final quarter. Yet the character, fleshed out by a powerful performance, is the center-point of the picture, a marvelous mix of anger, greed, and likableness.
Mercedes Ruehl's performance, like the development of her character, goes through a transition as the film progresses. Near the beginning of LOST IN YONKERS, Bella is completely unconvincing, presenting a wide-eyed facade of sheer idiocy that few viewers are likely to accept. It doesn't help that Ms. Ruehl goes over-the-top during these scenes. However, as the film moves forward, not only does Bella become more believable, but the actress finds her rhythm. It can be argued that the transition of the character is difficult to swallow, and while that may be true, I find the problem more to be where Bella starts, not where she ends up.
Although Simon has set this story in the 40s, LOST IN YONKERS is a rare example of a period piece that doesn't strive for nostalgia. The costumes and settings are right, but the script isn't laden with the too-common sense of longing that makes the audience look back fondly on days gone by.
The pacing of LOST IN YONKERS is off. The first half of the movie is relatively light, with frequent bursts of humor. Later, however, the movie becomes an emotional experience, with almost too many intense scenes. The two children, who are clearly at the forefront during the movie's first hour, get lost for a while as the conflict between Bella and her mother is highlighted.
The story of LOST IN YONKERS is mostly solid and doesn't suffer from the "everything must be happy" Hollywood-type ending, but the uneven tone hurts the screen adaptation of Simon's Pulitzer-Prize-winning play. Something has definitely been lost in the translation, and as hard as the movie works to keep its audience's attention, it's only partially successful. Dreyfus is magnetic, but this is really Mercedes Ruehl's movie, and she's only occasionally up to the job.
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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