Review of Bye Bye Braverman

Bye Bye Braverman is probably not for everyone, thus its low overall IMdb score, under 6. For starters, its a guy film so women will probably not be into it. It's also about Jewish-American characters so that will be hard for non-Jews to get into (even though I am a gentile). On top of that, the Jewish characters are not observant Jews, eating pork, not being faithful to their family, being disrespectful in Temple and driving in the car that Hitler himself promoted, the Beetle. So who could like this film? Well, I liked it. The reason being, I grew up in Greenwich Village and was 4 when this was released. I instantly remembered the Greenwich movie theater shown in the opening credits, I was turned away from there when I was about 9 when I tried to watch the film 2001 by myself even though the film is rated G. I was like what the hell? It's a G rated flick, I had an argument with the ticket office, lol. Later on, at the age of 12 I would sneak in through the side door of that theater and stoop real low in the first row and watch the ending fight scene of Rocky with my friend Marcus, I did that 9 times (I counted). I also remember 11th st and 4th st because I once lived on that block and of course was very familiar with Sheridan Square except The Village Voice was no longer there, instead it was a hamburger place that imitated Burger King Whoppers, I would buy them after picking up bottles from the street with my friend Marcus and getting the deposit money. So, when the road trip finally starts I thought I would lose interest as the first half of the film is pretty slow and the Greenwich Village scenes were my main interest. But a chemistry started between the four that I enjoyed. I have never seen Jack Warden in a comedic moment, I remember him as the tough guy in films like The Thin Red Line but he has a pretty funny scene here. George Segal is good as usual and Joseph Wiseman is a good somber curmudgeon that balances out the group, but I really enjoyed those three when put together with Sorrell Booke's character. The road part of the film reminded me of the TV show Seinfeld in some ways. They are always getting something to eat, Booke's role is VERY similar to that of the Seinfeld character George Costanza and the pace picked up well. Godfrey Cambridge in a supporting role is, of course, his usual awesome. The bittersweet ending of them saying goodbye and reentering reality was also touching and just like something that would happen to me with my adult friends (really just acquaintances), so I could relate to this film on that level. Watch it to reminisce about your younger days living in New York, stay for the road trip. Even a gentile like me found Bye Bye Braverman entertaining. 8 of 10, I watched it on the TCM network.