Brighton Beach Memoirs (film)

Brighton Beach Memoirs

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Gene Saks
Produced by Ray Stark
Written by Neil Simon
Starring
Music by Michael Small
Cinematography John Bailey
Edited by Carol Littleton
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release dates
  • December 25, 1986 (1986-12-25)
Running time
109 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $18 million
Box office $11,957,943[1]

Brighton Beach Memoirs is a 1986 American comedy film directed by Gene Saks, written by Neil Simon, and starring Jonathan Silverman and Blythe Danner. Simon adapted his semi-autobiographical 1983 play of the same title, the first chapter in what is known as the Eugene trilogy, followed by Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound. The film frequently breaks the fourth wall by having Eugene speak directly to the camera.

Plot overview

Set in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, New York in September 1937 amidst The Great Depression , this coming-of-age comedy focuses on Eugene Morris Jerome, a Polish-Jewish American teenager who experiences puberty, sexual awakening, and a search for identity as he tries to deal with his family, including his older brother Stanley, his parents Kate and Jack, Kate's sister Blanche, and her two daughters, Nora and Laurie, who come to live there after their father's death.

Cast

Reception

Roger Ebert, in his review for the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "The movie feels so plotted, so constructed, so written, that I found myself thinking maybe they shouldn't have filmed the final draft of the screenplay. Maybe there was an earlier draft that was a little disorganized and unpolished, but still had the jumble of life in it.... The movie was directed by Gene Saks, who directs many of Simon's plays on both the stage and the screen, and whose gift is for the theater. His plays have the breath of life; his movies feel like the official authorized version. Everything is by the numbers."[2][3]

References

External links

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