Lost in Yonkers

Written by: Neil Simon, from his play Starring: Mercedes Ruehl, Richard Dreyfuss, David Straithairn, Irene Worth

Neil Simon won a Pulitzer for this? Why? Much ado about nothing if you ask me. Terribly unfocused. Not especially funny and not especially moving. Ruehl is OK playing a character who at first is so retarded (literally) it's rather distasteful. Dreyfuss has all the good lines, and Worth is solid as the tyrannical grandma. The two kids are OK too, but haven't we seen this somewhere before, like on Brooklyn Bridge? It seems Simon is exorcising some autobiographical ghosts here, and watching this picture, I kept wondering why I should care. He let his personal demons get in the way of his storytelling. I never quite figured out whose story this was, as major characters have an unnerving habit of just disappearing without much of an explanation. I think it is emblematic that in the end voiceover, the narrator tells us about a lot of things that DIDN'T happen, any one of which would have made the film more resonant and memorable. But Simon's penchant for historical accuracy eliminates any possibility of a satisfying narrative. I know I've said it a hundred times, but none of the characters really change through the picture. Finally, I really like Straithairn, but I wish someone would give him a part that's NOT a bumbling simpleton. I bet he'd make a great fiend. (5/22/93)