Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

bohemiac1 Whether the actors are really Jewish or not, these are some of the most forced Brooklyn/Jewish accents in Hollywood history. The way they spread the schmaltz around it's downright unbearable. Blythe Danner in an unbelievably poor piece of casting, lumbers her way through the part of the Jewish mother like a shiksa doing the horah. The mess of bad interpretations is practically racist. It made it impossible for me to stick with it. Oy gevalt! Avoid this piece of work at all cost. On the other hand if the play comes around to your local theater, go see it--there it works! Neil Simon always works best in live theater anyway, Yep, that's it.

edwagreen Blythe Danner and Judith Ivey deliver wonderful performances here as Jonathan Silverman, as Eugene, recounts his life in 1937's Brighton Beach.What makes the film so good is the relationships among the characters with a backdrop of extremely wonderful family values.Bob Dishy had a marvelous opportunity here as the father of the clan. He gives a restrained but compelling performance as the patriarch of the family.His sons played by Jonathan Silverman and Brian Dillinger are fabulous. There are certain scenes when Silverman is skating or hopping where I'm reminded of Jerry Lewis.As for Danner and Ivey, they too are wonderful. Their mannerisms, intonation and idealism of the Jewish culture are beautifully realized by them.The cinematography is just wonderful. Beautiful Brighton in 1937! Even as the inevitability of war loomed, the film is rich with many of the typical problems faced by families in that period. In a sense, you don't have to be Jewish to experience what the family is going through.A must see for nostalgic buffs, and those of us who believe so strongly in family values.

VanillaJesus I starred as Eugene Morris Jerome in my high school adaptation of the play and this film definitely doesn't live up to the script or the imagination of Neil Simon. I know this play backwards and forwards and I can honestly tell you that the acting was off, The production was cheesy. The changes in the play's script were poorly done. If you want to really enjoy this play you should see the actual play, not a Hollywood movie adaptation. The Eugene character lacked soul and was overly sarcastic in all he said. The other characters were off key as well. A general disappointment, messy, disloyal to the play, amateurishly executed!

Fad King This is a gently amusing coming-of-age comedy that comes from the later, more mature period of Neil Simon's writing. Although there are plenty of wisecracks to go around, this is not one of those Neil Simon pieces where every character spouts out one-liner jokes for 2 hours like they're guest stars on a Bob Hope special. There are also dramatic elements (some work, some are overkill) that lend some weight to the story.The performances are good across the board, especially Blythe Danner as the mother (although she and Judith Ivey were oddly WASP-ish choices to play Jewish women). I've never been a fan of Jonathan Silverman, but I will say that he hits the right notes as the obnoxious, gawky, and totally horned-up teen-age narrator/protagonist of the story.The movie is very similar in tone to Woody Allen's "Radio Days," but the latter is far more imaginative and funny than this one.