Who mourns the Jewish American Princess? This is a world that is so close to the one I grew up in and now seems so very far away.
The world chronicled by Roth and Bellow and Malamud now only exists in their chronicles. Like pre-war Vienna, this was a high point of middle class Jewish assimilation. Even the Rabbi who marries Ron looks like a priest.
But this is a lost world. The concerns of Jewish striving have long been answered and I can’t point to any one thing - but it feels like these dreams of assimilation are no longer real (if they ever were)
The pacing in this film can be a bit draggy - but the performances and their honesty overcome that flaw.
No wonder they cast Ali McGraw in every movie in the 1970s.
*Fun City Edition has very solid restoration.