Crossing Delancey a Romantic Comedy by Susan Sandler Crossing Delancey
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Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Crossing Delancey A Romantic Comedy by Susan Sandler Crossing Delancey. "Crossing Delancey" makes the mistake of creating characters who are interesting enough to make us care for them - and then denying them freedom of speech. The people in this movie have intelligence in their eyes, but their words are defined by the requirements of formula comedy. If this had been a European film, the same plot would have been populated with adults, and the results might have been magical. The film tells the story of Isabella (Amy Irving), a Jewish girl from New York, in her early 30s, who works for a literary bookstore. In her work she gets to meet lots of interesting people - mad poets, Bohemian book lovers, literary lions - and she considers herself to be part of the scene. She does not quite understand, or admit, that many of the shaggy intellectual giants she meets are attracted, not by her mind, but by her beauty. She has not fully accepted the fact that some men, on one level or another, are thinking of sex when they talk to a pretty girl, no matter how they may flatter her intelligence. As the movie opens, Isabella is offered a job as the personal secretary of a self-important European poet (Jeroen Krabbe). This is the last job she needs. It is instantly obvious to the audience that her duties will be more personal than secretarial. Meanwhile, Isabella's grandmother (Reizl Bozyk), known as "Bubbie," is concerned for her welfare. Why doesn't this nice young lady have a husband and a few babies? She engages the services of a matchmaker (Sylvia Miles), who produces a prime matrimonial candidate: Sam, the pickle man, who has inherited his father's pickle store on the Lower East Side. To please Bubbie, Isabella agrees to dinner with the matchmaker and the pickle man (Peter Riegert). But she's an uptown girl now, moving in circles where she discusses novels, not pickles, and the whole world of her grandmother and matchmakers and pickle men seems hopelessly antiquated. So of course we all know what happens next. The poet turns out to be a rat. The pickle man turns out to be sweet and sensitive, just the man for Isabella, and he only agreed to the matchmaker's offer because he'd had his eye on Isabella for months. It is inevitable that Isabella will marry into pickles, but first there has to be manufactured suspense, based on her own intractable nature. Sam turns up for dates but Isabella doesn't. Things are said that are misunderstood. The whole relationship almost breaks down before it gets started. The usual stuff. I think I could enjoy a movie about a book lover and a pickle man, if only the two characters were allowed to talk openly and deeply about their two different worlds. I would not even require them to talk seriously; they could be in a romantic comedy, if they were allowed to be articulate. But the characters in "Crossing Delancey" talk almost exclusively in terms of the movie's standard plot construction. And the character of the pickle man is so seriously underwritten that he is literally given only one speech of any substance. The rest of the time he is simply a story device. It is hard to believe these two people could, or should, fall in love, because they have no communication of any depth or wit. That leaves Bubbie and Hannah Mandelbaum, the matchmaker. Both characters are straight out of musical comedy by way of the TV sitcom, but at least they are acted with great joy by Bozyk and Miles, so they're fun to watch and listen to. They have the spontaneity of life and the gift of gab. I suppose that some people, watching this movie, could get so caught up in the energy of the two older ladies that they'd go along with the conspiracy and try to cheer Isabella and Sam into marriage. But, hey, is it a good idea to get married simply because the rules of plot construction call for it? In life, maybe that would be OK, but it's not good enough for a movie. Roger Ebert. Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. Crossing Delancey. Crossing Delancey is a 1988 American romantic comedy film starring Amy Irving and Peter Riegert. Joan Micklin Silver [2] directed it, drawing upon a play by Susan Sandler, who also wrote the screenplay. Amy Irving was nominated for a Golden Globe for the film, for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical. Contents. Plot Cast Reception Box office Original Soundtrack Album Track listing References External links. Isabelle Grossman works for a New York bookstore which supports authors through public readings. When author Anton Maes comes to the bookstore to give a reading, he shows an interest in Isabelle, who is enamored with the intellectual world that is very different from her traditional Jewish upbringing. Isabelle pays frequent visits to her Bubbe (grandmother), Ida, who lives on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Anxious for her granddaughter to settle down, Ida turns to the local marriage broker. Although shocked and annoyed, Isabelle allows the matchmaker to introduce her in Bubbe’s kitchen to Sam Posner, who owns the nearby pickle shop. At first Isabelle is not interested in Sam, believing that he is too working-class for her. Instead, she sets her sights on Anton and the New York intelligentsia. But she also feels guilty for how rude she was to Sam, so she tries to make it up to him by setting him up with her girlfriend Marilyn. In the process, she learns that he did not hire a matchmaker out of desperation and in fact has admired Isabelle from afar for several years. She is deeply touched and begins to like him, but it seems Sam has given up on her and starts dating Marilyn. One day at a store book reading, Sam shows up, wearing a suit the matchmaker had advised him to buy. Anton arrives as well. Isabelle leaves with Sam, and later agrees to meet him the next day at her Bubbe’s apartment. After work the next day, however, she is sidelined by Anton and, believing that he is romantically interested in her, goes to his apartment. She discovers instead that Anton wants the convenience of an assistant, not a true partner. Finally seeing through him, the disgusted Isabelle races to her grandmother's apartment late, finding it empty with Ida sleeping on the couch. Heartbroken, she believes she has ruined her chances with the honest and caring Sam. As she cries, Sam enters from the balcony. The two finally are united and Ida feigns confusion, but is gleeful that her plan has succeeded. Isabelle Grossman - Amy Irving Sam Posner - Peter Riegert Bubbe (Ida) Kantor - Reizl Bozyk Anton Maes - Jeroen Krabbé Hannah Mandelbaum - Sylvia Miles Lionel - George Martin Nick - John Bedford Lloyd Cecelia Monk - Claudia Silver Mark - David Hyde Pierce (billed as David Pierce) Pauline Swift - Rosemary Harris Marilyn Cohen - Suzzy Roche Ricki - Amy Wright Candyce - Faye Grant Karen - Deborah Offner Myla Bondy - Kathleen Wilhoite Rabbi - Moishe Rosenfeld Diva - Paula Laurence Woman in cab - Christine Campbell Cab driver - Reg E. Cathey Leslie - Susan Blommaert Aunt Miriam - Dolores Sutton Handball champion - Sam Corsi Mickey - Michael Marisi Ornstein (billed as Michael Ornstein) Molly - Susan Sandler Barber - Vincenzo Zafonte. This was Yiddish theatre star Reizl Bozyk’s only film role. Reception. The film received positive reviews. [3] [4] [5] It currently holds an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 27 reviews. One retrospective review from 2018 called Crossing Delancey "the ultimate Jewish rom-com" and a rare great story of "outwardly Jewish love". [6] The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: 2002: AFI's 100 Years. 100 Passions – Nominated [7] Box office. The film was a modest arthouse success. [1] Original Soundtrack Album. Crossing Delancey (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the motion picture Crossing Delancey, released October 17, 1988. Instrumental tracks were by Paul Chihara, and songs were performed by (and in some cases written by members of) The Roches. Suzzy Roche of the Roches played Marilyn, a friend of Isabelle (Irving), in the film. The Roches provided several songs for the soundtrack. One of the songs that was featured in the film, Nocturne , is also featured on the group's 1989 album Speak . An earlier arrangement of their cover of Come Softly to Me is featured on their album Another World. Track listing. Come Softly To Me (credited to Gretchen Christopher, Barbara Ellis, and Gary Troxel) Lucky (written by Terre and David Roche) Anton's Theme Portrait Of Izzy Anton Again Come Softly To Me Sadness Pounding (written by Terre and Suzzy Roche) Lucky Portrait Of Anton Barber Shop Nocturne (written by Margaret Roche) True Love Pounding (Terre and Suzzy Roche) Happy Ending Come Softly To Me Tracks 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 12, 14 and 16 are performed by the Roches. Tracks 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 13, 15 composed by Paul Chihara Track 11 composed by Sergei Prokofiev All songs arranged and orchestrated by Paul Chihara. v t e. Maggie Roche Terre Roche Suzzy Roche. The Roches (1979) Nurds (1980) Keep On Doing (1982) Another World (1985) No Trespassing (1986) Crossing Delancey (soundtrack, split with composer Paul Chihara) (1988) Speak (1989) We Three Kings (1990) A Dove (1992) Will You Be My Friend? (1994) Can We Go Home Now (1995).