Reviews & Ratings for
Bye Bye Braverman More at IMDbPro »

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 2:

[1] [2]

Index

16 reviews in total

---

6 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
If You Liked "The Big Chill", you'll love this one., 19 June 1999
Author: Randy H. Farb (rhfarb@yahoo.com) from United States

This movie is about four friends searching for their friend's burial place. Not only do you experience the frustration of New York in the 1960's, but you can relate to how these aging friends are dealing with an ever-changing society. Sorrel Brooke, perhaps best known as Boss Hogg, steals the show. A true gem!

---

6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
A New York Odyssey, 27 July 2005

Author: criticman2000 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

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?

---

3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
a personal experience, 20 August 2004

Author: marcadam (marcadam@webtv.net) from santa rosa, california

to me this movie turns the biblical story of the Exodus on its head. Instead of leading His people into the Promised Land, Monroe(Segal)leads His people out of the Promised Land(Manhattan), and into the desert(Brooklyn), and they wander and wander. While there, each character comes to question his faith. The four main characters, assimilated Jews, have abandoned their traditions when we first meet them. Upon their return to their roots(Brooklyn),characters and situations confront them, that force them to look inward at themselves, and what they have become. Listen to the speeches carefully. King's, Cambridges'(brilliant cameo), and don't overlook Segal's at the cemetery addressing the headstones(just beautiful. Strange that this move as released in 1968,at the height of so much turmoil. BBB is an overlooked classic. This movie is so important to me, that when it finally is released on DVD, I will be the first on line to buy it. And, I don't even own A DVD player! But for this movie I might just buy one.

---

4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
A description of one of the best off-beat comedies ever made., 8 February 1999
Author: mannyb from Los Angeles

One of the best off-beat movies I've ever seen. The eulogy by Alan King was one of the best that I've ever heard. It reminded me of so many sermons that I've heard on the high holidays: a lot of words in search of a theme.

---

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
lovely, quirky, human, and a lasting pleasure, 24 February 2003

Author: clint9laing from Lawrence KS

Segal, Wiseman, Booke and Warden: each actor's performance makes for a superb piece of a patchwork quilt. These old friends may rub roughly against each other, in a NY/ethnic kind of way, but we recognize the deep understanding they share from long familiarity. The story offers us a superb ensemble cast, with a wonderful cameo from King. It will never knock "Citizen Kane" off anyone's shelf, but makes a great candidate for the second tier of movie treasures.

---

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Braverman Redux?, 23 November 2007
Author: SSavitt from Canada

I haven't yet seen "Starting Out in the Evening", but it clearly lives in much the same territory as "Bye Bye Braverman". Is it too much to hope that the release of this new film will lead to some efforts to rescue this lovely older Lumet film from its undeserved obscurity? At the very least, a DVD should be available!

It looks odd that those who write reviews of Braverman here give it a 9 or 10 (which is what I would do), yet the over-all viewer rating is below 6. I guess that you have to have some feeling for the New York (or upper west side) milieu in order to appreciate this film; but if you do have it, then you're apt to love this film.

Speaking of under-appreciated New York films, the second on my list, after "Bye Bye Braverman", would be Bill Murray's "Quick Change".

---

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Bye Bye Braverman, 24 June 2005

Author: bookphile1 from United States

The description of this movie fails to convey how totally hilarious it actually is, although it gives a partial idea of its bittersweet qualities. Throughout the movie, we see things through the eyes of one of the main characters who keeps imagining his own death. His own pessimistic fantasies contrasted with the absurd predicaments the four friends keep getting into are a riot, and at the same time, convey human frailties most poignantly. There are wonderful cameo performances by Jessica Walter, Alan King and Godfrey Cambridge and others that are worth the price of admission all by themselves. The movie has a distinctly ethnic Jewish sensibility and a real New York feeling as we follow the characters from Greenwich Village to Brooklyn as they look for the funeral parlor for the dead Braverman. Oh, how I wish I could buy this movie on DVD! It's just wonderful. If you ever get a chance to see it, run to the theater!

---

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
I love this movie, 15 August 2002

Author: don saltzman from chicago usa

terrific film--fine acting and directing with a wonderful script.All the players are great.it is a fine adaptation of the novel and the actors ,because the director,got it. Alan King gives a funny, funny performance,and it is just one among many in the film.It is not available on vhs or dvd,which is a shame.

---

3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Very Rare Classic Movie., 16 August 2004
Author: (hmd45@earthlink.net) from Milan Tennessee

This movie would only appeal to persons who do not love dark comedy. I was able to obtain a copy of the movie a couple of years ago not a great copy, but a viewable one none the less and I find this movie to be quiet charming and very humorous from beginning to end. It is really not about much at all except to explore how one time friendships are lost with time and how a person we once held very dear now is just someone we no longer wish to bother with. Four men who used to be great friends, but through the years have drifted apart are now reunited and they quickly find that there is not much friendship left at all and a lot more contempt for each other than one would have suspected when the day began. Somehow they make it through the day all being greatly relieved that the day is over. They say they will get together again all knowing that will never happen.

---

Four good actors in a red VW driving all over New York City .................., 23 June 2011

Author: merklekranz from United States

I am not convinced that "Bye Bye Braverman" is much more than a stage play inside a red Volkswagon. This is all about the dialog, and quite frankly a lot of it is kind of boring. The characters, four Jewish intellectuals, are well developed, but seem very one dimensional. The movie is essentially one long misadventure on their way to a funeral. Godfrey Cambridge as a "Black Jewish cabdriver", and Alan King as a long winded Rabbi, are the most memorable scenes. George Segal is his usual droopy self, and Jack Warden his usual gruff self. Overall the film is a time capsule, that you may or may not want to open, depending on your tolerance for a lot of often times meaningless dialog. - MERK

---

---

Page 1 of 2:

[1] [2]

Add another review

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Ratings	External reviews
Plot keywords	Main details	Your user reviews
Your vote history