Brighton Beach Memoirs

Brighton Beach Memoirs is a 1986 American comedy film directed by Gene Saks, written by Neil Simon, and starring Jonathan Silverman and Blythe Danner. The film is adapted from Simon's semi-autobiographical 1982 play of the same title, the first chapter of what is known as the Eugene trilogy, followed by the adaptations Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound. Set in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, New York during The Great Depression, this coming-of-age comedy focuses on Eugene Jerome, a Polish-Jewish American teenager who experiences puberty, sexual awakening, and a search for identity as he tries to deal with his family, including his older brother Stanley, his parents Kate and Jack, Kate's widowed sister Blanche, and her two daughters, Nora and Laurie. The film frequently breaks the fourth wall by having Eugene speak directly to the camera. Plot In September 1937, Eugene Jerome is almost 15 and lives in a Jewish-American household in Brighton Beach with his parents Kate and Jack, his 18-year-old brother Stanley, his widowed, asthmatic aunt Blanche Morton, and her two daughters, pretty 16-year-old Nora and sickly 13-year-old Laurie. Blanche is Kate's sister, and after being widowed in her 30s, she and her daughters moved in with the Jeromes, causing Jack to take a second job to support the enlarged household. The extended family lives on the money from Jack's two jobs and Stanley's job at a men's hat shop. Each member of the family has their own personal problems and concerns, which end up affecting the other family members. Eugene, who hopes to go to college and become a writer, is obsessed with baseball and attempting to see a well-developed girl naked, spying on both Nora and a sexy older woman neighbor. Jack loses his second job and is forced to work nights as a cab driver, until he has a heart attack and must stop working entirely to rest. Jack also worries about his cousin and other relatives who still live in Poland, due to the ominous news bulletins coming from pre-World War II Europe. Stanley dislikes his job, but hesitates to quit because the family needs his salary and he doesn't want to put more stress on Jack, whom he fears might die. Kate is fed up with the pressure of trying to take care of everyone, including her sister Blanche, who lacks confidence and is mutually attracted to the Jeromes' Irish neighbor Frank Murphy, who sometimes drinks.