The Boynton Beach Bereavement Club (2005) Reviews

• A good movie for adults

  shifraleah2006-04-08

  I saw this movie last evening at the Philadelphia Film Festival. It is that rare unusual movie made for adults. The film takes place in an active adult community in Florida. It shows members of a bereavement group as they regain their lives. The film is mature and well done. Don't go it you want the usual geriatric old people jokes. It treats death and new love with great sensibility. There were opportunities to poke fun at the elderly but this film takes the high rode and shows them as real people. The scenes of finding love the second time were tender and well done. The audience responded in kind and responded well to the filmabout the film It is rare to see this sensibility in a film were all the actors are over 60. It is well worth seeing.

• Seniors in the sun

  jotix1002006-08-17

  We must confess, right at the start, we went to see this movie reluctantly. Judging by the trailers we saw prior to going to watch it, we didn't have much expectation, but we can categorically say we had a marvelous time watching, and laughing out loud, at this wonderful Susan Seidelman's picture that really deserves to be seen by a wider audience. We are taken to that senior's paradise that is Florida. Unfortunately, the most careful planning doesn't include death, something that is a sad reality a few of the principals in the movie have to deal with. Most of the people that transfer to that state after their retirement buy all these fabulous places after being in the Northern parts of the country, running away from the cold and the harsh winters. Marilyn, a happily married woman, experiences the horror of her husband being killed by a careless selfish neighbor, who obviously has no remorse, other than tell her problems to her shrink. Marilyn has to start to learn how to live alone, something she has not counted on. We see her walking to the Bereavement Center by herself, since she has no license to drive, while perhaps a lot of her neighbors, in her possibly "gated community" zip by in their cars. Then there is Jack, a recent widower. He is a pathetic man who has relied on his wife Phyllis for everything. Without her, he is condemned to eating at the ubiquitous diners all over the place where seniors get discounts before a certain hour, perhaps before 5pm! When he meets the bold Sandy, he is doubtful he will ever again find love with another woman. Harry, on the other hand, is a party animal. In spite of thinking he is a sophisticated man, he falls for a woman he meets on line that turns out too good to be true. Lois, a youthful looking woman, is knocked out of her "boots" by the hunky Donald, a man that is not all he appears to be, but in the end, turns out to be the right man for Lois, and vice versa. Susan Seidelman supposedly based this film on personal experiences of relatives living in that environment. She adapted the material Florence Seidelman and David Cramer told her out of their own experiences into a film that bites deep into what how loneliness works when long time married people have to face an uncertain future. Even though it's a funny comedy, "Boynton Beach Bereavement Club" reveals under its glossy surface how hard it is to live in all these professionally decorated dream houses when a wife, or a husband is not around anymore. The surviving spouse must face that solitude head on. The director got excellent acting from her ensemble players. All do a marvelous job. Brenda Vaccaro, who has not been seen a lot lately, gets a great opportunity as Marilyn. As her friend, and confidant, Dyan Cannon is wonderful. Sally Kellerman, has a couple of great moments as Sandy, the woman who has not come clean to the new man in her life. Len Cariou, who appears as Jack, makes an impression, as does Joseph Bologna, the party animal. Michael Nouri is Donald, the man who is not who Lois thinks he is. Renee Taylor appears briefly in the film. Ms. Seidelman ought to be congratulated in the way she created all these characters that are real and reflect a section of the population that went through so much in their lives and when they thought the golden years were here to stay, must make a tremendous adjustment and learn to live again on their own.

• See this movie!

  roomzoom22006-08-03

  A wonderful film for everyone but how satisfying to see one made for, with and by the over 50 set. Boynton Beach Club adeptly deals with the major life themes of love and loss, the awkwardness of starting over and the resilience of the human spirit at any age. The stellar ensemble cast brought honesty, humor and empathetic discomfort to the real world dilemma's that come with internet dating and single's groups or that anxious first date feeling that is the same whether you are 16 or 60. Sudden widowhood not only forced the spouse to see themselves in new roles but confronted their children with looking at them as people, perhaps for the first time, rather than the role of mom or dad that they had been locked into for decades. Some very refreshing role reversal too. This is an all too rare opportunity to see a fine group of thespian's in roles that are worthy of them and of the audience. I hope this is the first of many to come. If a movie can make the boomer's a little less apprehensive about the impending golden years this is the one. If a movie can make the next generation look at boomer's and seniors more like vibrant people than relics this is the one. You will laugh and sigh and maybe cry when you see this movie. But more importantly you will vote with the only thing Hollywood understands these days, your dollars. Let them know we want more movies like this, we will pay to see them and we have more time and money to spend at the movies than the 20 year old's they seem to exclusively cater to. I will see this movie again and this time I'm taking the kids!

• None of that old stereotyping

  jdesando2006-09-27

  "Old age is not a disease—it is strength and survivorship, triumph over all kinds of vicissitudes and disappointments, trials and illnesses." Maggie Kuhn Our perception of seniors in the media has recently been formed by Jerry Seinfeld's parents in a Florida retirement community. They and their aging friends are unrelentingly argumentative, early-bird dining Jewish retirees who look and act old. Susan Seidelman's Boynton Beach Club, however, will have none of that old stereotyping. As if they were older siblings of the emerging boomer solipsists, these seniors are generally vital, best exemplified by Dyan Cannon's lithesome body but suspiciously tight face, Sally Kellerman's lean and sensual mien, and Brenda Vaccaro's vulnerable enthusiasm. All have reason to be down, for they have lost their spouses but are gaining friends to share their grief with and possibly their lives. Enter the objects of their search for companionship, among others, Joe Bologna's Harry and Len Cariou's Jack, the former a self-proclaimed ladies' man, the latter a shy recent widow lacking skills to cope with mature women. Unlike the seniors in Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, Manna from Heaven, In her Shoes, and Golden Girls, the principals in Boynton Beach only occasionally resort to jokes about their age or ailments and prescription drugs, the ties that bind elderly everywhere but here are minimized by one reference to Viagra and one to old men who are not even ogling women when they drool. Here the seniors are actively living and loving, something the rest of the world does as well. This dramedy is as satisfying as an afternoon drink on the veranda with a favorite granddaughter, at which happy occasion there is cause to celebrate being alive and connected between generations with nary a nod to senility.

• so realistic that you swear you know these people and have driven down these streets

  bttf-32006-07-15

  A very enjoyable movie, although if you live in southeast Florida, you may be able to relate to these characters better. The one thing that really got to me was that you were observing characters whose best years were behind them, which were being portrayed by actors whose best years are also behind them, and who you remember thirty years ago. When you see the character portrayed by Dyan Cannon and you remember what Dyan Cannon looked like thirty years ago, you can relate to the character's life situation with even more sympathy and compassion; it's like you really knew what this this character was like many years ago when she was hot and vital and young.