Next time your mother makes a suggestion related to your job, you might take a hint from Susan Seidelman: Listen.
The veteran Jewish director of such comedies as “Desperately Seeking Susan” and “She-Devil” accepted a pitch from, of all people, her mom. Not only that, Susan and her mother Florence co-produced the resulting film, “Boynton Beach Club.”
A poignant comedy with undercurrents of loss and regret, “Boynton Beach Club” opens Friday, Aug. 18 at the Embarcadero Center Cinemas.
Seidelman’s pleasantly engaging movie follows the romantic and social odysseys of several widowed or divorced characters ranging in age from their late 50s to early 70s. They are played with immense charm and empathy by stalwarts Brenda Vaccaro, Joseph Bologna, Sally Kellerman, Dyan Cannon, Len Cariou, Renee Taylor and Michael Nouri.
The starting point was an old (pardon the expression) friend of Florence’s, who shared his befuddled experiences as a newly single man. He, like Florence, lives in one of the dozens of retirement communities in the Palm Beach area where there are endless activities — if one is so inclined.
“He was a shy guy who was devastated after his wife died,” Susan Seidelman relates, “and he came out of his shell after going to a bereavement group.”
The full name of the group is the Boynton Beach Bereavement Club. Not a surefire title for a comedy, hence the contraction.
“Boynton Beach Club,” which Seidelman directed and co-wrote, draws on numerous real events from Florence’s friend’s life, from going on a first date to bonding with new guy friends to cooking for himself. But his experiences were far from unique, Seidelman point out.
“Their wives decided who they were going out to dinner with on a Friday night. And now they have to deal with being alone in the house but being social again.”
Seidelman, who grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia but has been based in New York for years, had difficulty soliciting interest from distributors, despite (or perhaps because of) a lack of movies with older characters. But the reaction she’s gotten at film festivals and at the Palm Beach opening has vindicated her.
“Usually people see a movie and they applaud — or they don’t applaud — and they walk out,” she explains on the phone from a Los Angeles hotel. “I’ve been bombarded by people 55 and above coming up to me, and talking among themselves. The gist is, ‘Finally a movie that reflects something about my life.’ Or ‘I recognize myself.’ Or ‘I recognize the characters.'”
Except for Renee Taylor’s cameo as a caricature of a New York Jew, “Boynton Beach Club” doesn’t make a big thing of ethnic identity. Seidelman acknowledges that her intent was to make a movie that was universal in its themes and message. But that doesn’t mean that she filled it with bland people.
“When I was younger, I’d react: ‘Oh, that’s so stereotypically Jewish.’ All those things that used to bug me or maybe I didn’t appreciate, now I appreciate. As I get older, I like characters. I like people that have flavor, whether they’re Jewish people or Italian people or Russian people. So much of life is homogenous.”
Florence, who turned 75 in July, already has an idea for another movie. Susan, the industry vet, told her to keep it to herself until they see how “Boynton Beach Club” does.
“Part of her eagerness to get this done [is] she’s in great health but as you get older you’re aware of this ticking clock,” Susan explains. “With age comes awareness of our own mortality and the desire to embrace your life rather than passively waiting for things to happen.”