Bye Bye Braverman
Encyclopedia
Bye Bye Braverman is a 1968 American
comedy film
directed by Sidney Lumet
. The screenplay
by Herbert Sargent
was adapted from the 1964 novel To An Early Grave by Wallace Markfield
. Unreleased to consumers for decades, the movie was finally made available for purchase on DVD in April 2009 as part of the Warner Archive series.
Leslie Braverman dies suddenly from a heart attack at the age of 41, his four best friends decide to attend his funeral
. The quartet of Jewish intellectual
s drawn from the four corners of Manhattan
consists of public relations
writer Morroe Rieff from the Upper East Side
, poet
Barnet Weinstein from the Lower East Side
, book review
er Holly Levine from the Lower West Side
, and Yiddish writer (and chronic complainer) Felix Ottensteen from the Upper West Side
. The opening credits make clear that these men have been friends since their youth. They agree to meet at Christopher Park on Sheridan Square, a Greenwich Village
landmark, from which they travel in Levine's cramped Volkswagen Beetle
. Due to confusion and bad directions from Braverman's widow, the men attend the wrong funeral but finally arrive at the cemetery in time for the burial. The centerpiece of the movie is the extensive running discussion among the four men along the way, as they talk about everything from philosophical observations regarding death to the relative merits of classic comic book characters, all while maintaining a strongly Jewish comedic tone emphasizing irony
and sarcasm
. Rieff, who emerges as the central character, periodically experiences absurdist fantasy episodes or daydreams involving his own mortality, eventually delivering a soliloquy
to a vast array of gravestones bringing the dead up to date on what they have missed lately.
The character Leslie Braverman never actually appears in the movie, by flashback or otherwise, and is known only through descriptions and references to him by other characters. (Braverman's coffin
is shown briefly, with him presumably inside, at the cemetery.) While Braverman is dead from the outset in both the book and the movie, there are occasions in the book but not the movie where his own words are quoted, often at considerable length as from a letter.
release was filmed on location in Manhattan
, the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn
, and Cedar Grove Cemetery
in Flushing. The movie is notable for its gritty but romanticized and picturesque portrayal of New York City
as it was in the 1960s, showing elevated train tracks and bodegas and using numerous aerial shot
s. In the meeting scene at Sheridan Square, the office of The Village Voice
newspaper, a landmark there for decades until a later move, is visible. A scene where the mourners stop to use a pay telephone takes place in front of one of the legendary Big Daddy's Restaurants
then located on Coney Island Avenue
in Brooklyn. The scene of a traffic accident between the Volkswagen Beetle and a Checker cab
takes place at the intersection of Eastern Parkway
and Bedford Avenue
in Brooklyn, and the Town Hill Restaurant nightclub on the corner, notable at the time for its live entertainment, can be seen prominently in the background.
editor Jeremy M. Davies, in connection with reprints of Markfield's books, has called him "The Joyce of Brighton Beach
," suggesting by analogy a comparison between Markfield and this quintessentially Jewish neighborhood and the essential literary synergy between James Joyce
and his native Dublin, but also suggesting other connections. The structure of Markfield's To an Early Grave, and therefore of the movie based upon it, is to some extent a comic parallel of Joyce's novel Ulysses
, specifically "Episode 6" (which is commonly known as the "Hades" chapter) where protagonist Leopold Bloom
and three friends travel in a carriage to attend the funeral of Patrick "Paddy" Dignam who has died in a drunken stupor. The fantasy or flashback experiences of Morroe Rieff mirror Joyce's stream of consciousness writing style. In turn, Joyce's Dignam character is generally regarded as an echo of Elpenor
in the Odyssey
from ancient Greece
.
Stanford University
professor Steven J. Zipperstein, writing about the author Isaac Rosenfeld
, has stated that the character of Leslie Braverman was modeled on the real-life Rosenfeld, who died of a heart attack at age 38 in 1956. Zipperstein notes that Rosenfeld's premature death in failed circumstances is mentioned prominently in the memoirs of many who, like Markfield, were in the Partisan Review
literary circle, including Alfred Kazin
, Irving Howe
, and William Phillips
. Rosenfeld has also been acknowledged, according to Zipperstein, as the model for the character of King Dahfu in the 1959 novel Henderson the Rain King
by Saul Bellow
; Rosenfeld and Bellow had been friends since their teenage years.
described the film as "a movie about New York Jews, which — by some unlucky mixed perspective of affection and satire
— turns into a pogrom
. . . Sidney Lumet gets a chance to explore some Brooklyn neighborhoods and to show some Orthodox Jews in their relative Old Testament
purity (the movie seems to be, in part, a lampoon
of Reform Jewry, a bit intramural for a picture of this size) . . . In the end, though, with The Group
and Bye Bye Braverman, [he] has probably exhausted the cinema possibilities of drawing people together out of separate lives to attend funerals in semisatirical circumstances. It hardly ever works in fiction, and it does not seem the best vehicle for his movies at all."
Pauline Kael
described it as "a crudely affectionate comic romp. The movie is often gross and it's sloppily thrown together, but the characters' rhetoric has some juice in it . . . It's a low-comedy situation played for emotional wallowing as well as for laughs."
Time
said it "has a lot to talk about, and nothing much to say . . . As the story's central character, actor Segal shows flashes of a comic talent hitherto unexplored by Hollywood. But what picture there is for stealing is burgled by Wiseman with his portrayal of a stereotypical literateur."
According to the Time Out London Film Guide, the film is "a little unfocused but bristles with Jewish wit and fine performances."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
. The screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by Herbert Sargent
Herb Sargent
Herbert Sargent was an American television writer, a producer for such comedy shows as The Tonight Show and Saturday Night Live, and a screenwriter...
was adapted from the 1964 novel To An Early Grave by Wallace Markfield
Wallace Markfield
Wallace Markfield was an American comic novelist best known for his first novel, To An Early Grave , about four men who spend the day driving across Brooklyn to their friend's funeral...
. Unreleased to consumers for decades, the movie was finally made available for purchase on DVD in April 2009 as part of the Warner Archive series.
Plot
When idealistic minor authorAuthor
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
Leslie Braverman dies suddenly from a heart attack at the age of 41, his four best friends decide to attend his funeral
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
. The quartet of Jewish intellectual
Intellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
s drawn from the four corners of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
consists of public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
writer Morroe Rieff from the Upper East Side
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
Barnet Weinstein from the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
, book review
Review
A review is an evaluation of a publication, a product or a service, such as a movie , video game, musical composition , book ; a piece of hardware like a car, home appliance, or computer; or an event or performance, such as a live music concert, a play, musical theater show or dance show...
er Holly Levine from the Lower West Side
TriBeCa
Tribeca is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York in the United States. Its name is an acronym based on the words "Triangle below Canal Street", and is properly bounded by Canal Street, West Street, Broadway, and Vesey Street...
, and Yiddish writer (and chronic complainer) Felix Ottensteen from the Upper West Side
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and between West 59th Street and West 125th Street...
. The opening credits make clear that these men have been friends since their youth. They agree to meet at Christopher Park on Sheridan Square, a Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
landmark, from which they travel in Levine's cramped Volkswagen Beetle
Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Type 1, widely known as the Volkswagen Beetle or Volkswagen Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003...
. Due to confusion and bad directions from Braverman's widow, the men attend the wrong funeral but finally arrive at the cemetery in time for the burial. The centerpiece of the movie is the extensive running discussion among the four men along the way, as they talk about everything from philosophical observations regarding death to the relative merits of classic comic book characters, all while maintaining a strongly Jewish comedic tone emphasizing irony
Irony
Irony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
and sarcasm
Sarcasm
Sarcasm is “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt.” Though irony and understatement is usually the immediate context, most authorities distinguish sarcasm from irony; however, others argue that sarcasm may or often does involve irony or employs...
. Rieff, who emerges as the central character, periodically experiences absurdist fantasy episodes or daydreams involving his own mortality, eventually delivering a soliloquy
Soliloquy
A soliloquy is a device often used in drama whereby a character relates his or her thoughts and feelings to him/herself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters, and is delivered often when they are alone or think they are alone. Soliloquy is distinct from monologue and...
to a vast array of gravestones bringing the dead up to date on what they have missed lately.
The character Leslie Braverman never actually appears in the movie, by flashback or otherwise, and is known only through descriptions and references to him by other characters. (Braverman's coffin
Coffin
A coffin is a funerary box used in the display and containment of dead people – either for burial or cremation.Contemporary North American English makes a distinction between "coffin", which is generally understood to denote a funerary box having six sides in plan view, and "casket", which...
is shown briefly, with him presumably inside, at the cemetery.) While Braverman is dead from the outset in both the book and the movie, there are occasions in the book but not the movie where his own words are quoted, often at considerable length as from a letter.
Production
The Warner Brothers/Seven ArtsWarner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
release was filmed on location in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, and Cedar Grove Cemetery
Cedar Grove Cemetery (Queens, New York)
Cedar Grove Cemetery is a nonsectarian cemetery in Flushing, Queens, New York.-History:It was established in 1893 and is still in operation. When Union Cemetery in Brooklyn closed in 1897, more than 20,000 bodies were disinterred and transferred to Cedar Grove Cemetery...
in Flushing. The movie is notable for its gritty but romanticized and picturesque portrayal of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
as it was in the 1960s, showing elevated train tracks and bodegas and using numerous aerial shot
Aerial shot
Aerial shots are usually done with a crane or with a camera attached to a special helicopter to view large landscapes. This sort of shot would be restricted to exterior locations. A good area to do this shot would be a scene that takes place on a building. If the aerial shot is of a character it...
s. In the meeting scene at Sheridan Square, the office of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
newspaper, a landmark there for decades until a later move, is visible. A scene where the mourners stop to use a pay telephone takes place in front of one of the legendary Big Daddy's Restaurants
Big Daddy's Restaurants
Big Daddy's Restaurants were a chain of restaurants located in New York, Florida and the Bahamas, local landmarks in Brooklyn and competitor to the better-known Nathan's Famous also in Coney Island...
then located on Coney Island Avenue
Coney Island Avenue
Coney Island Avenue is a roadway in the New York City borough of Brooklyn that runs north-south for a distance of roughly five miles, almost parallel to Ocean Parkway. It begins at Brighton Beach Avenue in Coney Island and goes north to Park Circle at the southwest corner of Prospect Park, where...
in Brooklyn. The scene of a traffic accident between the Volkswagen Beetle and a Checker cab
Checker Taxi
Checker Taxi was an American taxi company. It used the Checker Taxi Cab produced by the Checker Motors Corporation of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Both Checker Taxi and its parent company Checker Motors Corporation were owned by Morris Markin....
takes place at the intersection of Eastern Parkway
Eastern Parkway (Brooklyn)
Eastern Parkway is a major boulevard that runs through a portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The road begins at Grand Army Plaza and extends east, running parallel to Atlantic Avenue, along the crest of the moraine that separates northern from southern Long Island, to Ralph Avenue...
and Bedford Avenue
Bedford Avenue (Brooklyn)
Bedford Avenue is the longest street in Brooklyn, New York City, stretching and 132 blocks from Greenpoint south to Sheepshead Bay, and passing through the neighborhoods of Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Flatbush and Midwood....
in Brooklyn, and the Town Hill Restaurant nightclub on the corner, notable at the time for its live entertainment, can be seen prominently in the background.
Literary inspirations and allusions
Dalkey Archive PressDalkey Archive Press
Dalkey Archive Press is a publisher of fiction, poetry, and literary criticism in Illinois in the United States, specializing in the publication or republication of lesser known, often avant-garde works...
editor Jeremy M. Davies, in connection with reprints of Markfield's books, has called him "The Joyce of Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach is an oceanside neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. As of 2000, it has a population of 75,692 with a total of 31,228 households.-Location:...
," suggesting by analogy a comparison between Markfield and this quintessentially Jewish neighborhood and the essential literary synergy between James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
and his native Dublin, but also suggesting other connections. The structure of Markfield's To an Early Grave, and therefore of the movie based upon it, is to some extent a comic parallel of Joyce's novel Ulysses
Ulysses (novel)
Ulysses is a novel by the Irish author James Joyce. It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, in Paris. One of the most important works of Modernist literature,...
, specifically "Episode 6" (which is commonly known as the "Hades" chapter) where protagonist Leopold Bloom
Leopold Bloom
Leopold Bloom is the fictional protagonist and hero of James Joyce's Ulysses. His peregrinations and encounters in Dublin on 16 June 1904 mirror, on a more mundane and intimate scale, those of Ulysses/Odysseus in The Odyssey....
and three friends travel in a carriage to attend the funeral of Patrick "Paddy" Dignam who has died in a drunken stupor. The fantasy or flashback experiences of Morroe Rieff mirror Joyce's stream of consciousness writing style. In turn, Joyce's Dignam character is generally regarded as an echo of Elpenor
Elpenor
In Greek mythology, Elpenor was a comrade of Odysseus.-The story:Elpenor was not especially notable for his intelligence or strength, but he survived the Trojan War, and appears in the Odyssey. He is the youngest man to survive the Laestrygonians...
in the Odyssey
Odyssey
The Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
from ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
.
Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
professor Steven J. Zipperstein, writing about the author Isaac Rosenfeld
Isaac Rosenfeld
Isaac Rosenfeld was a Jewish-American writer who became a prominent member of the New York literary elite...
, has stated that the character of Leslie Braverman was modeled on the real-life Rosenfeld, who died of a heart attack at age 38 in 1956. Zipperstein notes that Rosenfeld's premature death in failed circumstances is mentioned prominently in the memoirs of many who, like Markfield, were in the Partisan Review
Partisan Review
Partisan Review was an American political and literary quarterly published from 1934 to 2003, though it suspended publication between October 1936 and December 1937.-Overview:...
literary circle, including Alfred Kazin
Alfred Kazin
Alfred Kazin was an American writer and literary critic, many of whose writings depicted the immigrant experience in early twentieth century America....
, Irving Howe
Irving Howe
Irving Howe was an American literary and social critic and a prominent figure of the Democratic Socialists of America.-Life and career:...
, and William Phillips
William Phillips (editor)
William Phillips was an American editor, writer, and public intellectual, who co-founded the Partisan Review. Together with co-editor Philip Rahv, Phillips made the Partisan Review into one of the foremost journals of politics, literature, and the arts, particularly from the 1930s through the 1950s...
. Rosenfeld has also been acknowledged, according to Zipperstein, as the model for the character of King Dahfu in the 1959 novel Henderson the Rain King
Henderson the Rain King
Henderson the Rain King is a 1959 novel by Saul Bellow. The book's blend of philosophical discourse and comic adventure has helped make it one of his most enduringly popular works.It is said to be Bellow's own favorite amongst his books....
by Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow was a Canadian-born Jewish American writer. For his literary contributions, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts...
; Rosenfeld and Bellow had been friends since their teenage years.
Principal cast
- George SegalGeorge SegalGeorge Segal is an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:George Segal, Jr. was born in 1934 Great Neck, Long Island, New York, the son of Fannie Blanche and George Segal, Sr. He was educated at George School, a private Quaker preparatory boarding school near Newtown, Bucks County,...
..... Morroe Rieff - Jack WardenJack WardenJack Warden was an American character actor.-Early life:Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Laura M. and John Warden Lebzelter, who was an engineer and technician. He was of Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry...
..... Barnet Weinstein - Joseph WisemanJoseph WisemanJoseph Wiseman was a Canadian theater and film actor, best known for starring as the titular antagonist of the first James Bond film, Dr. No, his role as Manny Weisbord on Crime Story, and his career on Broadway...
..... Felix Ottensteen - Sorrell BookeSorrell BookeSorrell Booke was an American actor who performed on stage, screen, and television. He is best known for his role as the heavyset, corrupt politician "Boss" Hogg in the television show The Dukes of Hazzard....
..... Holly Levine - Jessica WalterJessica WalterJessica Walter is an American actress, known for the films Play Misty for Me, Grand Prix, and for her role as Lucille Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development...
..... Inez Braverman - Phyllis NewmanPhyllis NewmanPhyllis Newman is an American actress and singer. She was nominated twice for the Drama Desk Award and won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.-Early life:...
..... Miss Mandelbaum - Zohra LampertZohra LampertZohra Lampert is an American actress, who has had roles on film, television and stage. She may be best remembered for her role as the title character in the 1971 cult horror film Let's Scare Jessica to Death, as well as starring alongside Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty in the 1961 romance film...
..... Etta Rieff - Godfrey CambridgeGodfrey Cambridge-External links:*...
..... Taxi Driver - Alan KingAlan King (comedian)Alan King was an American actor and comedian known for his biting wit and often angry humorous rants. King became well known as a Jewish comedian and satirist. He was also a serious actor who appeared in a number of movies and television shows. King wrote several books, produced films, and...
..... The Rabbi
Principal production credits
- Producer ..... Sidney Lumet
- Original Music ..... Peter MatzPeter MatzPeter Matz was an award winning American musician, composer, arranger and conductor. His musical career in film, theater, television and studio recording spanned fifty years, and he worked with a number of prominent artists, including Marlene Dietrich, Noël Coward and Barbra Streisand...
- CinematographyCinematographyCinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
..... Boris KaufmanBoris KaufmanBoris Abelevich Kaufman, A.S.C. was a cinematographer. He was the younger brother of famous filmmakers Dziga Vertov and Mikhail Kaufman.... - Film Editor ..... Gerald B. GreenbergGerald B. GreenbergGerald B. Greenberg is an American film editor who received both the Academy Award for Film Editing and the BAFTA Award for Best Editing for the film The French Connection ....
and Ralph Rosenblum - Art Direction ..... Ben Kasazkow
- Set DecorationScenic designScenic design is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers have traditionally come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but nowadays, generally speaking, they are trained professionals, often with M.F.A...
..... John Godfrey - Costume DesignCostume designCostume design is the fabrication of apparel for the overall appearance of a character or performer. This usually involves researching, designing and building the actual items from conception. Costumes may be for a theater or cinema performance but may not be limited to such...
..... Anna Hill Johnstone
Critical reaction
In her New York Times review, Renata AdlerRenata Adler
Renata Adler is an American author, journalist and film critic.-Background and education:Adler was born in Milan, Italy, and grew up in Danbury, Connecticut. After gaining a B.A. in philosophy and German from Bryn Mawr, Adler studied for an M.A. in Comparative Literature at Harvard under I. A...
described the film as "a movie about New York Jews, which — by some unlucky mixed perspective of affection and satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
— turns into a pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
. . . Sidney Lumet gets a chance to explore some Brooklyn neighborhoods and to show some Orthodox Jews in their relative Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
purity (the movie seems to be, in part, a lampoon
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of Reform Jewry, a bit intramural for a picture of this size) . . . In the end, though, with The Group
The Group (film)
The Group is a 1966 ensemble film directed by Sidney Lumet based on the novel of the same name by Mary McCarthy about a group of female graduates from a Connecticut College-like college during the early 1930s....
and Bye Bye Braverman, [he] has probably exhausted the cinema possibilities of drawing people together out of separate lives to attend funerals in semisatirical circumstances. It hardly ever works in fiction, and it does not seem the best vehicle for his movies at all."
Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991. Earlier in her career, her work appeared in City Lights, McCall's and The New Republic....
described it as "a crudely affectionate comic romp. The movie is often gross and it's sloppily thrown together, but the characters' rhetoric has some juice in it . . . It's a low-comedy situation played for emotional wallowing as well as for laughs."
Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
said it "has a lot to talk about, and nothing much to say . . . As the story's central character, actor Segal shows flashes of a comic talent hitherto unexplored by Hollywood. But what picture there is for stealing is burgled by Wiseman with his portrayal of a stereotypical literateur."
According to the Time Out London Film Guide, the film is "a little unfocused but bristles with Jewish wit and fine performances."