Goodbye, New York

Julie Hagerty stars as an insurance saleswoman who quits her job in order to taste life, winding up in Israel broke and homeless. Quickly discovering she'll have to get back to work, Hagerty (who knows her math!) learns the meaning of survival, finding friendships along the way. Minor excursion in the wake of "Private Benjamin" is pretty silly. Amos Kolleck wrote, directed and co-stars...and may have been in over his head. The picture isn't overly-ambitious (I didn't detect any hidden agendas), though it could have stood some extra input. Kolleck's writing is spirited in the same sense that most TV sitcoms are spirited, and Hagerty is never encouraged to give her sassy, flighty character any added dimension or emotional weight. *1/2 from ****