Used People
Used People | |
---|---|
Directed by | Beeban Kidron |
Screenplay by | Todd Graff |
Based on | The Grandma Plays by Todd Graff |
Produced by | Peggy Rajski |
Starring | |
Cinematography | David Watkin |
Edited by | John Tintori |
Music by | Rachel Portman |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | 20th Century Fox[1] |
Release date |
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Running time | 115 minutes |
Countries | |
Language | English |
Budget | $16 million[2] |
Box office | $28 million[3] |
Used People is a 1992
Plot summary
In 1969, Pearl Berman has just returned home from her husband Jack's funeral, her grief disrupted by her many relatives animatedly discussing which parkway offered the best route to the cemetery. Pearl's family tackles any and every subject – from body odor to toilets to Tupperware to borscht – as if it is worthy of a major debate.
Into a household filled with kvetchers steps Joe Meledandri, a distinguished Italian who years ago met Pearl's wayward husband in a bar, and convinced him to return to her. He has desired her ever since, and now that Pearl is a widow, Joe feels the time is right to make his move. He invites her for coffee, his first step on the road to seduction.
What remains to be seen is if he can overcome family objections to religious differences and if he is willing to accept Pearl's daughters: the lonely, overweight Bibby and the pretty but psychologically unstable Norma, who dresses up as celebrities to escape the grief that has overwhelmed her since the death of one of her children and divorce from her husband. At her father's funeral, Norma dresses up the way
Cast
- Shirley MacLaine as Pearl Berman
- Marcello Mastroianni as Joe Meledandri
- Bob Dishy as Jack Berman
- Kathy Bates as Bibby Berman
- Marcia Gay Harden as Norma
- Jessica Tandy as Freida
- Sylvia Sidney as Becky
- Lee Wallace as Uncle Harry
- Doris Roberts as Aunt Lonnie
- Joe Pantoliano as Frank
- Louis Guss as Uncle Normy
- Helen Hanft as Aunt Ruthie
- Gil Filar as Mark
Principal production credits
- Producer – Lawrence Gordon
- Executive producers – Michael Barnathan, Lloyd Levin
- Original music – Rachel Portman
- Cinematography – David Watkin
- Choreography – Patricia Birch
- Production designer – Stuart Wurtzel
- Art director – Gregory P. Keen
- Costume design – Marilyn Vance
Reception
As of October 2019, Used People holds a rating of 44% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 16 reviews.[6]
In her review in
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "The movie is by turns serious, satirical, bittersweet, maudlin, satirical, romantic, and farcical... MacLaine is a pro and survives the material... We care about her enough, indeed, to wonder if meeting the Mastroianni character is really the best thing that could have happened to her. He doesn't often seem like a real human in this movie; he's more like an all-purpose writer's device. The odds are against any sane person being able to behave like this man... what the movie could not overcome, for me at least, is the lack of any convincing romantic chemistry between [the two]."[8]
Variety stated, "A modern, absurdist sensibility informs the soap opera Used People... which harks back to '50s weepies... MacLaine's precise acting is laudatory and balanced by a very sympathetic turn by twinkle-eyed Mastroianni, in his best English-language role by far. The support ensemble is excellent."[9]
Rita Kempley of
In The New Yorker, Michael Sragow observed, "Life goes on – for the audience, seemingly forever — in yet another ethnic comedy-drama ... In the end, love conquers everything from religious differences to mental illness: everything, that is, except the forced eccentricity and bickering stereotypes in Todd Graff's script."[11]
In his review of the videotape release, Ty Burr of Entertainment Weekly rated the film C− and added, "Everything's in italics in this Jewish Moonstruck... MacLaine honks nasally ... Mastroianni talks in spumoni aphorisms... the score oompahs with grating merriment as characters parade cutesy tics instead of human traits. With stars as gifted as Jessica Tandy, Sylvia Sidney, and Kathy Bates drowning in the tough-talking treacle, it's one of those movies that gives New York a worse name than it already has."[12]
The film grossed $18 million in the United States and Canada,[13] and $10 million overseas for a worldwide total of $28 million.[3]
Accolades
Marcello Mastroianni was nominated for the
Home video
Initially distributed by
References
- ^ a b c d e "Used People". American Film Institute. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
- ^ Gritten, David (1992-12-19). "A Director's Coming of Age : Beeban Kidron Moves Into Big Budgets and Top Stars With Bittersweet Dramatic : Comedy 'Used People'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
- ^ a b Klady, Leonard (January 3, 1994). "Warner Bros. tops hot box office 100". Variety. p. 42.
- ^ a b "Used People". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
- ^ The Grandma Plays at the New York Times
- ^ "Used People". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ New York Times review
- ^ Chicago Sun-Times review
- ^ Variety review
- ^ The Washington Post review
- ^ The New Yorker review
- ^ Entertainment Weekly review
- ^ "Used People". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
External links
- Used People at IMDb
- Used People at Rotten Tomatoes