Made from a play by Susan Sandler, Crossing Delancey is not only a delightful romantic tale but also a gentle class comedy contrasting the tradition and zest in Bubble and Sams Lower East Side Jewish neighbourhood with Isabelle and her working-girl chums uptown lifestyle of fancy jobs, intellectuals, health club sessions, takeaway meals and egocentric casual lovers.
While Isabelle is dithering, a wealth of well-observed characters are on parade on both sides of the street, from the literati to a crazy street lady and a maniac cab driver, livings a bit flat as the winsome snoot whose neck youd like to wring, but Riegert is endearingly real, and other good turns abound 74-year-old Reizl Bozyk hamming her socks off as Bubble, Sylvia Miles as the hustling yenta, Jereon Krabbe as the scumbag of Isabelles desires, Rosemary Harris as a grande dame poet, singer Suzzy Roche as one of Isabelles man-hunting pals. Director Joan Micklin Silver shows her characteristic perception and warm affection for the characters, exposing their vulnerabilities and finding the humour in their milieus without resorting to cliche.