LOST IN YONKERS. Directed by Martha Coolidge; written by Neil Simon; produced by Ray Stark for Columbia. Starring Mercedes Ruehl, Irene Worth, Richard Dreyfuss, Brad Stoll and Mike Damus. Rated PG.
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Lost in Yonkers is a curiously unfocused movie. Moderately entertaining and mostly quite well-acted, its meandering point of view makes it ultimately unsatisfying.
A summary of the plot puts the focus squarely on 15-year-old narrator Jay (Stoll), who, with his younger brother (Damus) must go live with his formidable Grandma (Worth) in 1942. His father, recently widowed, has debts that can be paid off if he works for a year traveling around the south selling scrap metal.
Grandma owns a candy store in Yonkers. But living near such a heavenly place is anything but as wonderful as it may sound, since Grandma makes Hansel and Gretel's wicked witch seem like Mister Rogers.
The other member of Grandma's household is her eccentric daughter Bella (Rueful)—physically in her midthirties, but emotionally and intellectually still a teenager. And here is where the movie gets too fuzzy.
Bella is by far the most interesting, appealing, and well-formed character in the story, partly due to the way she's written, and partly because of Ruehl's infectious performance. But she's too good, distracting us from Jay's point of view. Again, both the script and the performances are at fault. Stoll seems reasonably talented, but he loses decisively in the unintended tug-of-war with Ruehl.
Dreyfuss' character, the boys' larcenous uncle Louie, doesn't seem to make much of a connection with the others. And the keystone-cops nature of his subplot is at odds with the dysfunctional family main storyline. But Dreyfuss is entertaining to watch, as usual. And the movie would probably be unbearably ponderous without the humor Louie brings.
Worth is impressive as Grandma, conveying a wealth of character information with terse dialogue and eloquent body language. Her life story and current emotional state (or lack of one) is so depressing, though, that it almost outweighs Bella's buoyancy.
Having recently seen This Boy's Life, which sets a new standard for coming-of-age movies, I am perhaps finding more fault with Lost in Yonkers than I would have otherwise. It's a showcase for its adult cast and its production design, which recreates 1940's small-town America stunningly. If you don't expect more from it than that, you won't be disappointed.
May 26, 1993