New York, 1 9 5 3. Larry Lapinsky (22) leaves his home, despite the protest of his over-controlling mother, and moves to Greenwich Village to live in his own apartment. He is happy with his girlfriend Sarah, and hangs around with many other people, including Robert, an aspiring playwright; Anita, a lonely woman who constantly threatens to commit suicide, until she one day really cuts her own throat; Bernstein, a gay African-American... Larry wants to be an actor, but has to accept a job at a snack bar first. Larry is also annoyed by the constant visits of his mother and father. Upon finding out that Sarah cheated on him with Robert, they break up. Larry is cast in a movie, and thus leaves the place for Hollywood.
"Next Stop, Greenwich Village" is a bitter-sweet, semi-autobiographical coming-of-age film by Paul Mazursky, who here has a sense for broken souls and melancholic artists, whereas all the actors are fully fledged out characters, and thus we believe and feel sympathy for them even when they sometimes do inexplicable things. This is already evident in a scene near the opening, in which the lad Larry and his girlfriend Sarah chat in bed, and she jokingly says: "I wonder if my mom's diaphragm fits me". Sometime later, after making love with her, Larry is full of energy and runs on the street at night, but stops at a poster of "A Streetcar Named Desire", stands next to Brando, looks at actress Leigh, who plays Blanche, and then flips a bubble gum from her blouse: "You have some chewing gum on your tit. I thought it was a diamond tiara!" The movie is filled with wacky dialogues and humor, and one never knows what these characters might do next—in the same scene, Larry, Sarah and Robert talk seriously about abortion, and then they become silly and do hopscotch in the park. Shelley Winters is very good as Larry's overbearing mother, though she is underused and appears in only five short sequences, but Ellen Greene is excellent as Larry's girlfriend Sarah. This also goes for the main actor, Lenny Baker, in his only leading role before his too early death, who is a formidable Larry, who can be both optimistic and critical of himself ("I am 10 years away from a good Hamlet!"). Many other actors got a very good start in small roles, including Christopher Walken, Bill Murray and Jeff Goldblum. While without a plot and with some unbalanced moments (the dream sequence), this 'slice-of-life' film feels alive and is a somber memory of youth: it is full of problems, annoying characters, disappointment and flaws, and yet it is the only thing you got, and once it is gone, it is lost forever.
Grade:+++
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