It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Amy Irving is a modern-day Manhattan book seller, 33 and still single, who has everything but a husband; her Jewish Bubbie introduces her to a marriage broker. Director Joan Micklin Silver, working from Susan Sandler's screenplay, adapted from her play, is careful to include all types of city life in her scenario: seniors, children, people of different ethnic backgrounds and races, various eccentrics, the wealthy, the working class...this in an attempt, one presumes, to please all audiences. If Silver had been as careful with her main cast of actors as she was in building the story's visual foundation, her film might have been more successful. However, the performances are too colorful, too much of a 'treat', while Sandler's often shameless dialogue doesn't help (at one point, Irving boasts of meeting Isaac Bashevis Singer, who wrote the story "Yentl," which was made into a film co-starring Irving). The acting, in fact, matches the female group harmonies contributed by the the Roches: slick showmanship presented with mechanized heart. ** from ****

Crossing Delancey is simply an enjoyable movie. That is the best description of it.Amy Irving stars as Izzy, an unmarried Jewish woman living in New York City, working at a bookstore who is content with her life, rubbing elbows with famous writers and planning readings for their books. Her grandmother is less content, and hires a matchmaker to help find Izzy a husband. The matchmaker brings home Sam (Peter Reigert), a pickle seller who has admired Izzy for years, but never spoken with her.Izzy is at first very resistant to the matchmaking, and initially feels that Sam is beneath her. However, she comes to realize that Sam is the real thing.The performances are all around good in this movie. The story is sweet and original, and things just fall into place nicely. Definitely recommended.

I first watched this film one night at about 1:00 a.m. after coming home from a evening out on the town. I sat down to unwind from the night. Crossing Delancey was one of my choices, and since I have a fondness for Manhattan, at the very least, the scenery would be a pleasure. I was quickly engrossed in Issy's love of books as well as the eclectic personalities at 'New Day Books'. Issy's life, though full of prominent authors and publishers, was unfulfilled which leads to Issy's interest in writer Anton Maes. Jeroen Krabbe plays well the author with the sugary sweet drippings of poetry he offers Issy to keep her handy. It works well. Issy's grandmother offers an endearing kindness to the plot, always looking to improve Issy's life in ways Issy may not be aware are wanting. Bubbie is fragile, yet stealthy in her quest to find Issy a mate, much to Issy's protest. Enter Sam Posner. Polite and grounded, but lacking spark at first glance. He is introduced to the plot by an overly chatty matchmaker. It didn't take long for me to warm to Sam. He was a man who knew who he was, and was proud of his life, however unappealing it may seem to others. (There is a sweet scene where Sam helps Bubbie by washing the windows. It's clear he is getting frustrated, but maintains his calm, all the while knowing she is up to something.) Bubbie continues to encourage Sam though Issy poo-poo's the idea of dating a man who sells pickles. I watched as Sam is put into scenarios where he could have easily taken a different attitude, but chooses to respond with dignity. Near the end of the film, while Issy is still unconvinced he would be a good catch, I was losing my heart to him. There is a scene where Sam peeks through a window with an expression that I can't quite explain. To this day, when I see that scene, I fall in love with him all over again. In the end, it's not about whether Issy 'get's the guy'. It's about allowing people to reveal their true selves to us. (At least it was for me.) There are some Sams in the world that, thankfully, don't live only in the movies.

If you come to this deadpan, soft touch romantic comedy with your expectations in check you might enjoy it's modest pleasures. Amy Irving is assured and winning in the lead; but there is a remote quality to the character we never quite warm to. When She realizes She is behaving real stupidly, we have been so far ahead of her for so long we don't quite buy it. For someone who loves language and books; She never has a great deal to say. The rest of the cast all do a fine job, as does folk rock legend Suzy Roche in her as of yet only movie. It is unfortunate Silver has not gotten a chance to do more; She has a real nice touch with comedy. This came through even in her minor "Big Girls Don't Cry." Along with Betty Thomas, She deserved more chances and better scripts.