Details
Movie Description
LOST IN YONKERS is Neil Simon's touching story--and Pulitzer Prize-winning play--of an eccentric New York family in crisis in the summer of 1942. On the run from a loan shark, a frightened and weak-willed father (Jack Laufer) leaves his two teenage boys, Jay (Brad Stoll) and Arty (Mike Damus), with their domineering grandmother (Irene Worth), who runs a candy store in Yonkers. The effect of the old woman's tyranny over two generations of offspring becomes evident as she coldheartedly attempts to control not only their lives but also that of her mentally challenged middle-aged daughter, Bella (Mercedes Ruehl), who desperately yearns for love and independence. The boys are forced to live by their stern grandmother's rules until their gangster uncle, Louie (Richard Dreyfuss), comes to town one night and goes into hiding in the family home. Uncle Louie ends up helping both the boys and Bella understand their aging grandmother and realize the importance of acceptance and love, despite the hardship of life in Yonkers.
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Synopsis
Filled with infectious laughter and genuine tears, Neil Simon's LOST IN YONKERS is the story of an eccentric New York family whose crimes, dreams, and memories collide one fateful summer. In 1942, Eddie (Jack Laufer), a desperate widower on the run from loan sharks, leaves his two adolescent sons in his boyhood home in Yonkers, New York, to be raised by their tyrannical grandmother (Irene Worth) and their sweet, but naive Aunt Bella (Mercedes Ruehl), who yearns for independence from her stoic and coldhearted mother. The boys (Brad Stoll and Mike Damus) struggle to cope with their new surroundings while they learn about the hardships of life and love.
Film Notes
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Widescreen
Audio:
Dolby Digital Stereo - English
Interactive Features:
Interactive Menus
Scene Selection
The film's exteriors were shot on location in Kentucky and Ohio.
Neil Simon's play LOST IN YONKERS won a Pulitzer Prize in 1991.
Mercedes Ruehl and Irene Worth both reprised their Tony Award-winning roles from the Broadway production of the play.
Industry Reviews
"...Conveys all the warmth and color of the original..."
New York Times - p.C10 - Janet Maslin (05/14/1993)
"...Flawlessly acted....LOST IN YONKERS is a quality product..."
Sight and Sound - p.49-50 - Caren Myers (07/01/1994)
"...Carefully rendered....Stratharin puts in a very fine turn..."
Variety - Todd McCarthy (05/10/1993)
"...Both Mercedes Ruehl and Irene Worth played the same roles on Broadway, and here they are well served by the director...The film is a series of small discoveries and victories..."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (05/14/1993)
Quotations
"The kids at school used to say: "Hey Bella, lost and found called and said come pick up your brains."--Bella (Mercedes Ruehl) to boys (Brad Stoll and Mike Damus)
"What if one night we cut off Grandma's braids and we sold them to the Army for barbed wire."--Arty (Mike Damus) to Jay (Brad Stoll)
"I even thought of a name for the restaurant, La Bella Johnny. Like it? I just hope he can read it."--Bella to boys
"He's incredible. It's like having a James Cagney movie in your own house."--Arty to Jay about their Uncle Louie
"You know what it's like to touch steel Mama, it's cold and hard, and I don't want that for my babies."--Bella to Mother (Irene Worth)
"Thieves and sick little girls is what you got, only God didn't make us that way -- you did."--Bella to Mother
"It might be a little late in life to be born all over again, but at least I got the walkin' part over with."--Bella
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