Used People

Infobox Film
name = Used People


image_size =
caption =
director = Beeban Kidron
producer = Peggy Rajski
writer = Todd Graff
starring =
music = Rachel Portman
cinematography = David Watkin
editing = David Watkin
distributor = 20th Century Fox
released = 16 December 1992
runtime = 115 min
country = USA / Japan
language = English
budget =
gross =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0105706

"Used People" is a 1992 American romantic comedy film directed by Beeban Kidron. The screenplay by Todd Graff, adapted from his 1988 off-Broadway play "The Grandma Plays" [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE6DE173CF937A35753C1A96E948260 "The Grandma Plays" at the "New York Times"] ] , takes a humorous look at a highly dysfunctional family living in the New York City borough of Queens circa 1969.

Plot synopsis

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's 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's willing to accept Pearl's lonely, overweight daughter Bibby, her pretty but psychologically unstable daughter Norma (who impersonates Faye Dunaway, Barbra Streisand, and Marilyn Monroe, among others, to escape the grief that has overwhelmed her since her son's death), and the rest of her crazy relatives as part of the package.

Principal cast

*Shirley MacLaine ..... Pearl Berman
*Marcello Mastroianni ..... Joe Meledandri
*Bob Dishy ..... Jack Berman
*Kathy Bates ..... Bibby Berman
*Marcia Gay Harden ..... Norma
*Jessica Tandy ..... Freida
*Sylvia Sidney ..... Becky
*Lee Wallace ..... Uncle Harry
*Doris Roberts ..... Aunt Lonnie
*Joe Pantoliano ..... Frank

Principal production credits

*Executive Producers ..... Michael Barnathan, Lloyd Levin
*Original Music ..... Rachel Portman
*Cinematography ..... David Watkin
*Choreography ..... Patricia Birch
*Production Design ..... Stuart Wurtzel
*Art Direction ..... Gregory P. Keen
*Costume Design ..... Marilyn Vance

Critical reception

In her review in the "New York Times", Janet Maslin observed, "As directed by Beeban Kidron, [the film] makes an international issue out of an Italian-Jewish courtship. It also slathers the ethnic equivalent of corn onto every sentimental scene." [ [http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0CE0D71E3EF935A25751C1A964958260 "New York Times" review] ]

Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" said, "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] ." [ [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19921225/REVIEWS/212250305/1023 "Chicago Sun-Times" review] ]

"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." [ [http://www2.variety.com/ref.asp?u=IMDB&p=H2BE&sid=VE1117796059 "Variety" review] ]

Rita Kempley of the "Washington Post" said, "Used People" wants to be "Moonstruck" with matzo balls, but it's less an eccentric romantic comedy than an icky three-layered Jewish mother joke... it's rich in character if rather trite in theme and scene." [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/usedpeoplepg13kempley_a0a34e.htm "Washington Post" review] ]

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." [ [http://www.newyorker.com/arts/reviews/film/used_people_kidron "The New Yorker" review] ]

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." [ [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,306756,00.html "Entertainment Weekly" review] ]

Awards and nominations

Marcello Mastroianni was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and Shirley Maclaine was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. The Casting Society of America nominated Mary Colquhoun for the Artios Award for Best Casting for a Dramatic Feature Film.

References

External links

*