Blueghost I'm always jealous of film makers who can make nice, intimate, light-hearted and warm films that have challenges for characters. Simply put it's stuff I can neither write nor shoot, but the intellectual film maker's hub that is (was?) New York, at one time, cranked out films like "Crossing Delancey" with delightful regularity.It strikes me that female protagonists like "Isabelle Grossman" in these kinds of films, are perpetually deceived by what they think they want and desire. It is the story of a New York Jewish single woman searching for love. Does she know what she want, or does mother know better? The film is classified as a romantic comedy. I suppose it is. There aren't a whole lot of jokes here, though there are some entertaining performances, some of which can make the audience grin, and perhaps laugh a little.It's a fine piece of film making. I can't spot any real flaws other than it could have used a gag or two more, but the energy level is about right for this kind of story.My only real societal comment is that I'm sorry that we don't see more films like this anymore. I could go into why, but that would bring down this review. All I can say is this film is not too sophisticated for anyone, is well shot, a bit slow paced, but well acted and put together.Enjoy.

Danusha_Goska Save Send Delete "Crossing Delancey" is a heartwarming romantic comedy, but it's so much more than that. It's a masterpiece in miniature, one of those miraculous movies that gets everything right: it's beautiful to look at, pure pleasure to watch, a moment-in-amber time capsule of a place, time, and community; it's an artistic success; it's deep, it's funny, and it makes you feel good. "Crossing Delancey" isn't "War and Peace," it's a small story about one woman and her one decision, but faithfulness to tiny details results in depth.The 1980s Manhattan of Isabelle, (Amy Irving) a thirty-something, well-educated, underemployed single Jewish woman, is so faithfully recreated the film feels like a well-made documentary. A rabbi who is on screen for mere moments is so believable I googled the actor to find out if he was a real rabbi. There is a kid selling used books on the sidewalk who is so convincing as a kid selling used books I wondered if he weren't some merchant they just found in his street-side stall and immediately inserted into the movie.Jeroen Krabbe as arrogant author Anton Maes is so believable I want to reach through the screen and smack him. Just one scene, a literary soiree where Krabbe glares at a poetess as she condescendingly advises him to write something in his native language is worth the price of admission. Krabbe's face is partly obscured by his hand; all you see are his eyes. Their murderous look is as mesmerizing as a venomous snake.Peter Riegert packs what could have been a dreary role – that of a pickle salesman – with fascination, subtle intelligence, and heart. Every character is perfectly cast; every performance is pitch perfect; everyone is the embodiment of the type of person a real Isabelle would have met in her real life.When I do rewatch this movie, I have to watch it over and over, just to cherish every little morsel: the Jamaican cabbie, the steam room anecdote, the heavily made-up street singer who enters a hot dog shop and sings "One Enchanted Evening" with an oracle's intensity, the delivery of the line, "four men and a cabbage;" even just the names of minor characters, "Cecilia Monk" "Pauline Swift" – and their hairdos – are to be savored.The sets are equally, painstakingly, perfect. Just the signage alone: "A joke and a pickle for only a nickel," and "Schapiro's: the wine you can almost cut with a knife," and, in Isabella's bookstore, the sign for "cashier" is shot so that it looks like "hier," French for "yesterday," appropriate for a movie focused on the past and the bittersweet passage of time.Isabelle lives in available-male-shortage Manhattan. She's nagged by loneliness, her grandmother, and her biological clock. She sleeps with a married, handsome neighbor who offers her nothing but one-night stands. She yearns for a glamorous author she's met at the bookstore where she works.Her grandmother fixes her up with a "pickle man," and Isabelle twists and turns for the rest of the film, weighing the advantages of a solid guy who might treat her lovingly, versus the attractions of a glamorous novelist who excites her. Isabelle's struggle is intimate and unique, played out in the microcosms of the formerly Yiddish Lower East Side and suave uptown Manhattan literati, but it's universal, as well. Dreamers everywhere must calculate whether to invest in the near, solid and familiar, or risk everything with the attractive and impossible-to-reach shooting star, and must face those moments when what had seemed attractive suddenly looks toxic, and what had seemed common suddenly reveals its hidden beauties.

nubka I bought this movie waaaay back when it first came out on video. Sometimes I'll go for months and months without watching it, but when I do, I always enjoys it. It's fun look back to the late 80's.The only problem I have with this flick is Sam. He needs a major makeover! Yes, I know that he is down-to-earth, real, sensible, confident guy, but a decent haircut and a pair of 501 Levi jeans would do wonders for him! His wardrobe looks like it was plucked from the bargin bin at Salvation Army. Loose those ugly, baggy utility pants and put on a pair of jeans, please, lol! Izzy's wardrobe is pretty bad, too. Dull, drab colors. Fortunately, her clothes get better as the movie progresses. Her hair looks like it's taking over the planet, not her co-worker's (Chilchilea Monk,) lol!

Snoopymichele SPOILERS BELOWAs an unmarried Jewish woman who has old fashioned elders, I can appreciate this movie now at 37 more than I did when saw it for the first time at 19. It is beautiful, endearing, and enchanting-not to mention funny and poignant.From beginning to end, Amy Irving gives a delightful performance as Isabel, (Izzy) an "Uptown Girl" who prides herself on her independent life in the literary world. Her friends, her colleagues, her entirely lifestyle is highbrow, and she feels comfortable in this world. Then she meets Sam, the "Pickleman", who is played by the always wonderful Peter Reigert. Although she likes him, her snobbery almost gets the best of her. Her awkward attempt to fix him up with her friend ends up backfiring, as she comes to realize what a true gem of a man he is. Add to that, she is engaging in a cat and mouse flirting game with the sexy Jeroen Krabbe, an enigmatic (and egotistical) Dutch writer who ultimately only wants her around so she can be his assistant. The line when she tells him off is priceless! Sylvia Miles, as the yenta matchmaker adds a lot of laughs with her over the top performance. Watching her eat alone adds much comic relief. The real scene stealer however, is the magnificent Reizl Bozyk as Isabel's "Bubby," the sweetnatured, sentimental, all-knowing Ida.With its New York scenery, rich characters and believable storytelling, this film is among the best romantic comedies ever made. It is one worth watching over and over, to cherish more and more through the years, especially as the older generations of Jews, with their old-world traditions and wisdom become a memory to their children and grandchildren. And any young Jewish woman who has ever encountered a matchmaker (which I have) just has to appreciate Hannah Mandelbaum's sincerity and desire to bring young people together to preserve the traditions and Jewish way of life. This film is a perfect 10 out of 10.