Larry Lapinsky (Lenny Baker) is an aspiring actor in his early 20s who leaves his Brooklyn home, overbearing mother Faye (Shelley Winters), and hen-pecked father Ben (Mike Kellin) and moves to Greenwich Village, a few subway stops away. This is the Village of 1953. Bob Dylan and the folkies won't arrive here for years, and even the beatnik scene isn't yet in full bloom. But it is the hippest place in town, filled with counter-culture artist types, and Larry settles right in. Very quickly he gets entangled with a group of free spirited friends, discovers adult romance with foxy girlfriend Sarah (Ellen Greene), deals with life's problems and triumphs, and hardest of all, copes with his mother.
Shelley Winters is brilliant as the ultimate Jewish mother. When Faye weeps over the radio singing of Jussi Bjorling, vowing to hear him in person at the Met, or unconventionally jitterbugs with a black gay guy at a Greenwich Village party she crashes, we feel affection for her despite her cluelessness and manipulations. Bernstein (Antonio Fargas), a black flamboyantly un-closeted homosexual is asked by Faye if he's Jewish, and he replies, "No, darling, I'm gay."
Writer-director Paul Mazursky's autobiographical "Next Stop, Greenwich Village" is a film of considerable charm and appeal. Lenny Baker, who made only a couple more films before dying of cancer in 1982, is fine in the central role--an actor playing an actor. The movie is smart and well-observed, with humor and warmth, along with an improvisational feel. It also tends to play very real, especially the scenes involving the two young lovers. It's a classic film about youthful ambition, betrayal, tragedy, and a never-ending surplus of hope. While most directors wind up knee-deep in schlock when making a movie about their youths, Mazursky keeps his focused on honesty. Bill Conti composed the music.
