One day, Morroe Rieff learns that his friend and fellow writer, Leslie Braverman, has died. After meeting Leslie's widow, Inez, who is more flirtatious than grieving, Morroe joins up with three other writer friends, Barnet, Felix, and Holly to attend funeral services. However, the quartet faces numerous obstacles that could keep them from paying their respects.
Acting
George Segal's motor-mouthed neurosis is a masterclass in anxious energy.
Direction
Lumet finds visual poetry in four guys who can't parallel park.
Writing
Wallace Markfield's novel adapted with razor-sharp Jewish wit intact.
Director
Sidney Lumet
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This is peak 'Jewish New York writer' cinema, when Philip Roth-style self-loathing was practically its own genre. Lumet, himself a Bronx-raised Jewish director, treats these anxious men with exasperated affection rather than mockery.
The film was a massive commercial failure and remains one of Lumet's most obscure works—he later admitted he never quite cracked how to make these unlikable men sympathetic enough for audiences.
US
