I've lived in NYC for most of my life and I've been a professional critic for a large portion of that. "Bye Bye Braverman", directed, in 1968, by Sidney Lumet, was not a big hit, either publicly or critically. That's because, at the time, it got lost in the shuffle of bland hippie sex dramas, which had little going for them beyond wacky titles and nice one sheets. Time has changed that and if you try to understand where "Bye Bye Braverman" is coming from, taking the time to pay attention, you'll find it both moving and funny. It's the story of a group of intellectuals, their greatest triumphs behind them, living now, on past royalties and conquests. They used to be fast friends, but age has made them peculiarly set in their ways and isolated. Then, one of them dies. We never do meet Leslie Braverman, but his death brings the 4 of them and their idiosyncrasies together, to be dealt with and acknowledged. After they're introduced to us, we get a little of the flavor of their angst, as they pile into Holly Levine's (Sorrell Booke in a wonderfully textured performance) beloved Volkswagen and begin the trek into Brooklyn for the funeral of their friend. Along the way, they ramble, consider their pasts and their future, eat some Chinese food (from a restaurant I used to eat at on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn), get into a car accident, visit the cemetery and attend the wrong funeral. You get to know these people pretty well. They are self-absorbed, fragile and sometimes confused. Their pride and fear prevents them from letting their friend's death reflect on their own mortality, until Morroe Rieff (played with complexity by George Segal, looking like a sheepdog) finally breaks down at the end. Joseph Wiseman, a fantastic character actor, has an unusually meaty role here and certainly makes the most of it as does the always entertaining Jack Warden. This isn't an action flick, compared with the bulk of director Sidney Lumet's output, this is almost a haiku. But it features the director's patented documentary style of film-making and sentiment which rings true. You'll find yourself sympathizing with these four, irascible has-beens. This is almost a chick flick for guys and mostly, a uniquely memorable film. It's 2007, why isn't this on DVD yet?
Review of Bye Bye Braverman
