Judy Berlin

With his first film, "Judy Berlin," Eric Mendelsohn shows promise of becoming a poet of life's awkward moments and common hopes. He also understands how the two often blur together, and how the whole

Friday, February 25th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

With his first film, "Judy Berlin," Eric Mendelsohn shows promise of becoming a poet of life's awkward moments and common hopes. He also understands how the two often blur together, and how the whole process inspires us to keep on keepin' on.

A quiet, black-and-white meditation on loneliness and personal cross roads in a Long Island suburb, Judy Berlin benefits from an outstanding cast in perfect sync and a sense of knowing that transcends time and setting. What it lacks, in a word, is energy. Not the slam-bang, "I need a car crash every 10 minutes to keep me awake" kind of energy, but a narrative momentum to keep the intelligently touching story strands moving forward.

Yet it's hard to knock Judy for dragging its feet. This is a film about regular people trying to connect, to themselves and to each other, to the world around them, and such aspirations don't necessarily translate to easy resolutions or standard beats. "Judy Berlin" could easily be a European film about American lives, or the work of an optimistic, better-socialized David Lynch. If such hybrids sound too pretentious, be advised to seek more traditional ground.

Then again, that would mean missing Edie Falco, whose back must hurt from carrying all of her Sopranos awards, as the bubbly title character. And Barbara Barrie, as a schoolteacher who smiles beneath a good deal of unspoken psychological weight. Worst of all, it would mean missing the final performance of the great Madeline Kahn, mournfully luminescent as a homemaker whose isolation can't quite dampen her spirit.
Mr. Mendelsohn's alter-ego, and a reminder of the director's past work in Woody Allen's costume department, is a gloomy, aspiring filmmaker played by Aaron Harnick. He's an Allen character without the self-reflexive sarcasm and wit. Ms. Falco's Judy, of the same background but a drastically different temperament, serves as his potential savior as she places hope in a new start in California.

The film's sparse black-and-white cinematography creates a contemplative, autumnal feeling, which is heightened by the plot device of a solar eclipse. This low-budget Long Island comes to look and move like a waking dream, its characters pulled along by an archetypal longing. Mr. Mendelsohn's affection for his characters sometimes feels too precious or obvious, but it also prevents the film from teetering into forced, self-conscious irony.