10-The Moon Daily Summer Weeky-Wednesday, May 19,1993
Uneven 'Yonkers'

By COLLEEN OLLE
Every family has at least one. The
uncle who misses family reunions be-
cause he must play 18 holes of golf
every day. The obstinate aunt who,
rather than visit her doctor, lets three
gangrene toes rot and fall off. Most of
us attribute our relatives' idiosyncra-
sies toa rotten childhood or to areces-
Lost in Yonikers
Directed by Martha Coolidge; written
by Neil Simon; with Mercedes Ruehl
and Richard Dreyfuss.
sive gene that afflictsonehapless indi-
vidual every third generation. When
Jay and Arty (Brad Stoll and Mike
Damus)visitGrandmaKumitzinNeil
Simon's "Lostin Yonkers," however,
they know the whole family is nuts and
that, somehow, Grandma is to blame.
Henchman Uncle Louie (Richard
Dreyfuss) only returns to Grandma's
house in the stealth of night when he
needs a hideout. Aunt Gert inhales as
she speaks, wheezing like deflating
bagpipes.Addled,absent-mindedAunt
Bella (Mercedes Ruehl) skips around
like a schoolgirl at 36 and works her-
self up into a tizzy whenever people
don'tactthewayshewantsthemto.As
her wisecracking nephews note, Bella
is "closed for repairs," having been
whacked one too many times by her
mother. Perhaps the most disturbed

oneofthemall,GrandmaKurnitz(Irene
Worth) watches her dysfunctional
brood with hawkish eyes and teaches
them to steel themselves against the
inevitable pain the world brings. Al-
though Jay and Arty fear their cold,
domineering grandma, they convince
her to let them live with her so their
recently-widowed father can sell scrap
iron throughout the states.
Under Martha Coolidge's direc-
tion, Simon'sadaptationofhisPulitzer
Prize-winning play draws much of its
strengthfromgreatcasting.Ruehltrans-
fersherTony-Awardwinning portrayal
of Bella from the stage to the screen.
Her expressive facenotonly entertains
but also helps us appreciate the depth
of her slow-witted character. Worth's
presentationoftherepressiveGrandma
deserves equal praise, while Dreyfuss,
a newcomer to the "Yonkers" cast,
playsawonderfullyshady Uncle Louie.
Stoll and Damus' performances as the
brothers prove hilarious.
Despite the perturbed nature of its
characters, "Yonkers" exudes. more
warmth and whimsy than drama. This
is Neil Simon, after all--more "Our
Town" than Hollywood. Stocked with
marzipan, licorice and gumdrops ga-
lore, Grandma's candy store serves
folksy customers. Jay and Arty joke
aroundlikeanyteenagebrothers,while
struggling toget along with andunder-
stand the adults. Coolidge("Rambling

6

Rose") never allows the underlying Bella's quivering lips to Grandma's thing extraordinary, to boil overrather
tension of World War II and the gang- callous ears. Grandma's stubborn si- than just simmer in its pot. Just once.
sters lying in wait for Uncle Louie to lence, perhaps, stops up any tears that But as Jay says of Grandma, "I wish I
overwhelm a town with the flakes of might fall during this scene. could say that Grandmalet Aunt Bella
innocence still sticky in its eyes. Then again, Coolidge and Simon listen to musicthatnight. IwishIcould
Indeed, life in Yonkers goes on make it difficult for movie-goers to say she visited Aron's grave. She
with the relentless dependability of a sniffle-let alone sob-at any point. didn't."
milkman and the infuriating AfterBelladeclaresinalaterscenethat And life never does, leaving us
chipperness of a Good Humor man. "AronandSarah [Grandma's two dead with the simple reality of Simon's
When Grandma refuses to approve her children]aretheluckyones,"Grandma movies: everything doesn't turnout all
daughter's decision tomarry themen- sinksintoachair.Ourhopesrise asher right atthe end. Some thingsdo. Some
tally-disabled usher Johnny (David eyes water for the first time in her life. things don't. And, with all our crazy
Straithairn), an emotional dam breaks We want Grandma to cry not only relatives, life goes whimsically on.
in Bella. Harsh but true words about because she needs to, but because we LOST IN YONKERS is playing at the
hermother'semotionalabusespillfrom want the life in "Yonkers"to do some- Ann Arbor Theater]I & 2.


LIEUTENANT
Continued from page 8
outadoubt America's finest A-picture
character actor("The Last Temptation
of Christ"). But it is in the small, the
indie B-pictures such as this that we
really see the stuff Keitel is made of.
Never has Keitel had a tour-de-
force such as this. As the forlorn de-
mon title character in "Bad Lieuten-
ant,"Keitelvirtuallyclaws atthescreen

in raw pain. Naked both literally and
figuratively, Keitel exposes the spiri-
tualagony ofhischaracter,notthrough
words but through his entire body. He
immerses you in the inferno through
the sheer power of his characteriza-
tion. This is the performance of a ca-
reer - and with Keitel's repertoire,
that is no small achievement.
"Bad Lieutenant"is physically and
thematically elevated through Keitel,
but also through its full-throttleexplo-

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ration of all the prickly ambiguities of
its subject. When the nun tells the
Lieutenant that she has forgiven her
assailants, Keitel cannot understand
how - but he believes her. The audi-
ence, however, doesn't necessarily
concur-but doesn't have to deny her
the rationalization either. Instead, the
audience is left to struggle with the
questions such a view of forgiveness
and the path to redemption without
being able toflat-outrejectiteither.It's
all so difficult and thorny and painful
for the audience that it brings them
closer to the Lieutenant in ways no one
watching would like to admit.
"Bad Lieutenant" is not for every-
one. It is, at times, torturous to watch
andevenmoretorturoustolatertryand
untangle foryourself. Butthestruggle
is the reward. It reminds you of what
being a believer or a non-believer is
about.Itremindsyouofwhatsustained
your faith, or what drove you away
from it. And it's about the loss that
results from either decision.
B ETENA is playing at the
Ann Arbor]1 &2Z

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