FAST FOOD, FAST WOMEN is the latest movie to look at love and relationships in the Big Apple. Unfortunately, it gets caught in the trap of creating quirky New York-style characters and events that feel a little too contrived.

Bella (Thomson) is a waitress in a coffee shop who is about to turn 35. The trauma of this event has her doing odd things, such as lying down in the middle of a busy street, and standing on her fire escape at night naked. She is also finally beginning to realize that the married man she has been seeing for 10 years might never leave his wife. In this weakened state, Bella allows her mother to set her up on a blind date, and even takes her advice to say she doesn’t want children so as not to scare the guy away. As luck would have it, her date Bruno (Harris) has recently discovered the joys of fatherhood, which is a shame because he really likes Bella except for the whole her not liking kids business…

What gives this movie some genuine warmth and emotion are the romantic adventures of a couple of older men who hang out at the coffee shop. Paul (Modica) is a shy widower who finds himself fumbling his way through dating as he courts Emily (Lasser), a widow who is eager to embrace life and love again. His grumpy friend Seymour (Argo) is even more ambitious, having fallen for a very young, very sexy exotic dancer named Wanda (Geffner). This is one of those rare movies that portrays older folk as actually capable of passion and desire, and for that alone writer/director Amos Kollek deserves kudos. It’s too bad that GRUMPY OLD MEN has to take a backseat to “Sex and the City.”

—Sandhya Shardanand

hybridCinema Ratings Guide:

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