This IS one movie that deserved to be on the BIG screen first, Everyone in this should have received an EMMY at the least. Cronyn and Silverman especially took me by surprise.The set design was another magnificent point in this film. Everything including the costumes was typical of Brooklyn in the late forties. Neil Simon really came up with a superb screenplay here. Everyone who enjoys Neil Simon's plays SHOULD own a copy of this. I know of only one thing that could made this better but I doubt using the same set as that of Brighton Beach Memoirs was possible. Overall, this movie should be in the stores AGAIN.I also noticed the outstanding stereo soundtrack. This alone rivaled many films shown in theaters.
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larry53110 June 2005
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Coxer9926 August 1999With the exception of Cronyn's Emmy Award winning performance as an aged grandfather, this television version of Neil Simon's final installment into the "trilogy" (with Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues) doesn't offer the warmth and heart Simon's plays are known.
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The third of Neil Simon's autobiographical plays (and only one filmed for television rather than the big screen) is a starry film that focuses on the fictional version of young Neil (Jonathan Silverman) getting a job as a writer for radio at CBS and the impact that it has on his family. They're already going through several crisis as parents Anne Bancroft and Jerry Orbach are having serious marital problems and grandfather Hume Cronyn has issues with a changing world, feeling unappreciated by other daughter Michelle Lee who's married a rich man.
For Silverman and fellow writer brother Corey Parker, difficulties with their father often disrupts into fights, and while their mother obviously loves them, she's not really an affectionate woman, revealing her issues with her own mother. But when she gets going with a story from the past (such as her crush on George Raft), she's quite funny and open. This is more slice of life oriented than ploy, but it's strong, revealing nostalgia, how many families lived, and beautifully acted. A radio broadcast featuring the voices of Marilyn Cooper and Jack Carter is a highlight, especially with Bancroft's reaction to Cooper's inscesent jibber jabber.