Fast Food, Fast Women

A movie by Amos Kollek

With Anna Thomson, Jamie Harris, Robert Modica, Louise Lasser, Angelica Torn

Christina says:

Bella (Anna Thomson) is a waitress in a New York diner. Her mother sets her up with Bruno (Jamie Harris) a taxi-driving writer, but they don’t really hit it off because her friend gave her the advice to deny her wish for children while he started taking care of his ex-wife’s two children, one of them his own, and is getting used to the idea of being a father.

Paul (Robert Modica) doesn’t want to spend his golden years alone and replied to Emily’s (Louise Lasser) personal ad. They have a hard time forming a new partnership.

And then there is hooker Vitka (Angelica Torn) who is getting too old for her job, and a number of other charming and eccentric characters.

Amos Kollek’s New York isn’t the city of hip twentysomethings working for PR agencies or glossy magazines and spending the nights at trendy clubs. He leaves the beaten paths behind and takes a look at the lives of ordinary people of all ages, from five-year-old Betsy (Loulou Katz) to Paul and his retired friends. That doesn’t mean they don’t have something extraordinary to tell. Most of the time they just muddle along, though, and Amos Kollek points his camera at them.

The remarkable thing about this movie is Anna Thomson’s charisma. Nobody would call her an all-American girl, and yet it is easy for the viewers to identify with her character. Bella may be eccentric, but her feelings are real and familiar.

FAST FOOD, FAST WOMEN is a cheerful movie that draws on the charisma of the actors involved. It is not as depressing but neither as moving as Kollek’s previous movie SUE that also stars Anna Thomson.

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Christina Gross

Last changes: 01/04/03