Crossing Delancey

Izzy (Amy Irving) is a talented bookstore employee in New York City. Although it is a low paying position, she rubs elbows with some of the finest writers in the country, by setting up book talks. Despite her success, she is in her thirties and is not married. Izzy is fine with this but her Jewish grandmother is appalled that her sweet relative does not have a husband. Therefore, grandmother arranges for a matchmaker to search out some candidates for Izzy. The first one is a pickle vendor! What was grandma thinking?

This film, set partly in an old, traditional Jewish neighborhood in Manhattan, is a movie fan's delight. Irving, charming and pretty, sails right through her role with absolute believability. The rest of the cast is just perfect, including an early role for David Hyde Pierce. What a wonder, also, to get a glimpse of a preserved neighborhood, where time moves slowly. Those who adore romantic comedies must not put a viewing of this movie off any longer. Try catching it at the library or video store today.

It might be ten years since last I saw Crossing Delancey. We wandered into the video store tonight and were more than desperate to find just one movie we were willing to take a chance on, and I spotted this gem.

Seriously: this one ages well, like a good wine. It's got only better - by that I mean that after time, one picks up the subtleties even more.

It's just sensational.

The other movie we rented is a Disney action flick. We're waiting to put it in, because we know we are going to be disappointed after this, and we want to savour it a little while more.

That's about the best you can say about any movie.

10 out of 10.

I found this movie years after it was out ... a real classic now for me. The characters are genuine ( I love Bubbie! )and very interesting. The music is a treat as well as I found myself singing to it, a montage of 80's music. The movie takes a few jabs at the narcissistic quirks of the artistic world and conflicting egos. There is a careful story plot around the conflict of "fame" versus "character" and Amy Irving's character slowly sees past the hype and notes the person. The matchmaker is a hoot! and makes a good compliment to the Grandmother. I was disappointed to see that this was the only movie for Bubbie (Reizl Bozyk) because she really is the glue that keeps the story going. Peter Riegert makes an excellent pickle man! One movie I can watch over and over!

This movie strikes me, even after all this time, as being better than it was given credit for. The slow unfolding of the developing relationship is very well done, the characters are interesting and believable, and the grandma is fantastic. My only complaint - it would be really interesting to see how those two people handled an ongoing relationship. Talk about two worlds coming together -

A winning movie with wonderful contrasts, excellent cast, and a terrific soundtrack. Peter Riegert (who makes far too few movies) is great as an ordinary joe with more going for him than it first seems. Amy Irving is equally good as the "ambiguous" bookstore manager and maybe best of all is her grandmother who wants her to meet a nice jewish man. Delancey is a metaphor in a movie with quite a bit of subtlety without being pretentious.