Lost in Yonkers (1993)

That was an excellent one.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

LOST IN YONKERS has more going for it than most movies: solid filmmaking, from script to final cut; topnotch, flawless performances by an outstanding cast; humor and drama of the highest order. Dreyfuss is incapable of a bad performance; Mercedes Ruehl holds her own (perhaps even outshining Dreyfuss in this instance); Irene Worth is the living, breathing embodiment of The Survivor- hard as steel, perhaps, but not without good reason(s); and David Strathairn as the hapless Johnny is to be pitied, to be sure- but it's the two boys, Jay (the late Brad Stoll, in a winning turn) and Arty (Mike Damus, in a performance so nuanced that it belies his years), through whose eyes we see it all, who steal the show. With direction like this (by Martha Coolidge), it COULDN'T fail. Check it out.

A Wonderful look back to 1930's New York and a dysfunctional family where the two young sons are the only ones who are normal. The casting was perfect and the actors, especially Mercedes Ruehl were more than equal to the task. Richard Dreyfuss again proved his versatility by playing a character much older than he really was. This is the story of Bella, who is slightly retarded, and her efforts to become a normal woman. She is hindered by her domineering mother and the feeling of responsibility to her her and her two little cousins. Her father passed away earlier and the house is full of her mother's feelings of bitterness. The story shows Bella's attempts to escape from her feelings of obligation to family and friends, and become a real woman.

This film is a good look on life during World War II. The film starts out as a comedy involving two youngsters, then evolves into a family drama towards the end. Richard Dreyfuss' character overreacts, is annoying, serves as a major distraction, and hardly has any screen time. Ruehl deserved an Oscar for her performance.In all, a good warm film.

Memorable, well thought-out characters interact in this family disrupted by WWII. Set (of course) in Yonkers, a domineering grandmother inhibits aspirations of her offspring with selfish, puritanical behavior deriving from her own, difficult upbringing.