It commences in the summer of '42 and continues for a period of ten months, the length of stay of two early-teen brothers with their tyrannical grandmother in the wake of their mother's death and while their father is away on business. Uncle Louie, a shady underworld character, drops in (i.e., hides out) for a short time. And Aunt Bella, a spunky simpleton who helps look after Grandma's candy store as well as after Grandma herself, is there the whole while. The boy's-eye view of the candy store upon first arrival is wonderfully, tenderly, salivatingly conveyed, and Martha Coolidge has directed throughout with thoughtfulness and care. But neither she nor her expert cast (Irene Worth, Mercedes Ruehl, Richard Dreyfuss, David Strathairn, Brad Stoll, Mike Damus) can succeed in making us unaware of the writing -- the writtenness, the writerliness. The writer in question is Neil Simon, who, in case you hadn't noticed, has stopped being funny every bit as dramatically and whiplashingly as Woody Allen. He, also like Allen, has not lost his timing or his rhythm or his cadence, but all of that only increases our awareness of what he has lost. And his newly acquired or coveted wisdom seldom seems altogether as wise as his humor once seemed humorous. Like Allen again. (1993) — Duncan Shepherd
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