A 39 y.o. NYC Jewish shrink has leukemia. His mom tells him that he was adopted from a teen Catholic girl in Liverpool, UK. He visits his bio mom and finds that he has two brothers (bone mar... Read allA 39 y.o. NYC Jewish shrink has leukemia. His mom tells him that he was adopted from a teen Catholic girl in Liverpool, UK. He visits his bio mom and finds that he has two brothers (bone marrow donor?).A 39 y.o. NYC Jewish shrink has leukemia. His mom tells him that he was adopted from a teen Catholic girl in Liverpool, UK. He visits his bio mom and finds that he has two brothers (bone marrow donor?).
- Won 1 BAFTA Award
- 1 win & 3 nominations total
Photos
- Ellen
- (as Amber Rose Sealey)
- Antony
- (as Gregory Fossard)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- GoofsLiverpool John Lennon Airport does not operate flights to and from North America. Whilst it is not impossible to fly from New York City to Liverpool, it is difficult and would entail changing airplanes at least once (in either London or Europe) and likely a long/overnight layover. Direct flights to Manchester Airport (just 34 miles, as the crow flies, from Liverpool) are far more reliable.
- Quotes
Jerry Lipman: Toxteth, mother. Tox-teth. Yeah, sort of a combination of the words "toxic" and "death".
Esther Lipman: So it's a slum?
Jerry Lipman: It aspires to be a slum.
Happier still, the combination of terrific supporting performances by the entire cast, believable people as its insightful characters, and a wry screenplay that manages to deliver many smiles, titters, and the occasional belly-laugh. Kudos to Director Weed and Screenwriter/Co-Producer/Cameo-Actor/SNL-Alum Tim Kazurinsky because accomplishing all this is no trivial task -- when you've had a chance to think about the plot. The shamefaced story-line is ye olde "I'm-a-rich-New-York-Doctor-dying-of-cancer-so-my-mother-told-me-I-was-adopted-so-I-could-crash-into-the-lives-of-my-birth-mother-and-her-family-members-in-impoverished-Irish-Liverpool-so-I-could-try-to-find-a-bone-marrow-transplant-while-learning-insights-from-my-new-culture-where-I-am-a-fish-out-of-water." Moreover, the movie gets its largest incredulity out on the table right in the beginning. Paul Reiser's Dr. Jerry Lipman is actually purebred Irish! In my mind, I think I can see Weed and Kazurinsky selling this to a producer saying, "Think of Terms of Endearment crossed with Local Hero, then salted with two shakes of Flirting With Disaster, finished off with a dollop of Lorenzo's Oil."
But, the acting is so good, the people so genuine and interesting, and the screenplay so full of disarmingly dry wit and wry observations, accented by some clever background inclusions by Director Weed, that it all works wonderfully. Reiser's love interest is his sister-in-law, but in this context, we're okay with that. Amy Robbins, who plays Maureen, comes across as a terrific actress in her own right -- and somehow gets away with making no bones about the fact that although her human-being chemistry with Reiser is adorable and their sex is great, inside her true self she knows that it still pales against the latent-yet-ubiquitous animal chemistry she feels for her hunky-but-no-good ex, roguishly played by Ian Hyphenated-Name. The heavyset Brian Daughty also scores well as feckless brother Frank. Olympia Dukakis and George Wendt are ideally cast in their minor roles as Reiser's adopted mother and brother.
In short, if you can stand a bit of TV-movie-type production values and obvious cuts for commercials, and you have some tolerance for a dollop of treacle, catch this one on Showtime if you can.
- herbqedi
- May 15, 2004