One of my all time favorites.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Julie Kavner of the "Rhoda" television show is just wonderful here. She is basically a Jewish Phyllis Diller who gains fame at the same time she neglects her daughters.This film is really a tribute to the women who became stand up comics years before.As we see in so many films, success has its disadvantages as well, as both young girls leave in a frenzy to seek out the father who abandoned them years before. After seeing him, they realize that a mother is still a mother.Carly Simon sings the background music throughout the film and she is an absolute treat to hear.

Mix every cliché known to cinema, add a dash of sub-par acting, and cringe every 7 seconds. Lather, rinse, repeat. The plot is weak, the characters are self centered, immature and dense. Also, completely static. The soundtrack... who decides on things like this? They should be banished. The moral of this story is something everyone over the age of six already knows, and at best it is just a simple reminder, nothing fantastic. You might as well watch the hallmark channel. Its only saving point was getting to hear Marge Simpson the entire time, and afterward you will want to drown this movie with the first six seasons. Everything, literally everything, ends unresolved as the movie comes to a close. The climax, breakdown, and ending happen in the last ten minutes of film. Boring, unnecessary secondary characters fall off without a trace after they serve the bleak purpose of providing a few one liners a crap screenplay writer couldn't fit into the actual premise otherwise. The budget was small to begin with, and when the money ran out, everyone threw their hands up in the air and threw together a few sure-fire movie tactics for endings, and the happiness of its last few scenes temporarily overshadow the hour and a half crapfest, and if your lucky, those feelings may just last long enough to make you forget about it.

The gritty Meg Wolitzer novel Ephron's script is based on is far darker than the cinematic end result, but that doesn't keep this movie from being a sweet, subtle and empathetic (to _all_ its characters, even the potential caricature of a paper-gnawing agent played by Dan Aykroyd) story. It's also as much of a love letter to New York as Woody Allen's "Manhattan" or "Everyone Says I Love You." This isn't a typical Ephron movie the way "Sleepless in Seattle" or "You've Got Mail" are, whatever you might think of them; it's about the genuine trauma of adolescence, the complexities of trying to be a grownup when you're still figuring yourself out, and--transcending the cliche of "the tears of a clown"--the sadness that often lurks behind the most successful lives in comedy and the sacrifices comedians make to get there. The soundtrack by Carly Simon is an extra treat. Highly recommended.

I just watched this movie for the third time. I chose to watch it on Mother's Day because this is about as realistic a tale about mother-and-daughter bonding and growing pains as you will ever see. Julie Kavner is nothing short of amazing as Dotty, a stand-up comic from Ozone Park, Queens, waiting for her chance to make it to the big time. But, life necessitates tradeoffs. As her career takes off, Dotty is unable to spend much time with her kids who grow resentful. And with her older daughter Erica (an excellent performance by Samantha Mathis) now in the awkward early teen years, everything Dotty does is a personal embarrassment to Erica. The direction is a bit on the claustrophobic and episodic side. Aside from experimenting with the number of different ways to show polka dots, this is not a visually impressive film, nor is it meant to be.But on its own terms, it is sweet, warm, winning, and true.