Used People (1992)
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38% of critics liked it
(13 reviews) -
30% of users liked it
(182 ratings)
Todd Graff wrote the screenplay for this eccentric romantic comedy in the spirit of Moonstruck that exchanges pasta for matzo balls. The film takes place in Queens in 1969, where Pearl Berman (Shirley MacLaine) has just arrived back from the funeral of her husband. As her dysfunctional family… More Todd Graff wrote the screenplay for this eccentric romantic comedy in the spirit of Moonstruck that exchanges pasta for matzo balls. The film takes place in Queens in 1969, where Pearl Berman (Shirley MacLaine) has just arrived back from the funeral of her husband. As her dysfunctional family kvetches in the living room, the dapper Joe Meledandri (Marcello Mastroianni) arrives. It seems that Joe has admired Pearl from afar for a number of years, ever since he met her husband in a bar and persuaded him to return to his wife. He invites Pearl for coffee, provoking the wisecrack from her mother (Jessica Tandy): "She got picked up at her own husband's funeral." As Pearl is wooed by Joe, she has to deal with her lonely, overweight daughter Bibby (Kathy Bates) and her prettier daughter Norma (Marcia Gay Harden), who suffers from such a lack of self esteem that she assumes the personalities of Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy, and Bonnie Parker. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Directed By
- Beeban Kidron
- Genres
- Comedy, Romance
PG-13,
- In Theaters
- Jun 1, 1992 Wide
- Studio
- Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
A soap opera with suds, this meller gives a bad name to the woman's picture in its story of a Jewish widow-matriarch and her dysfunctional family (mom, two problematic daughters), thrown off its shaken balance when Mastroianni's Italian charmer arrives
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Well-observed but shapeless mainstream romantic comedy that reminds one of Moonstruck.
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Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
An old-fashioned melodrama with equal doses of laughter and tears.
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Dan Lybarger, Nitrate Online
Mastroianni and MacLaine are both fine, but the film is a little too cutesy for its own good.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
No Featured Audience Ratings Found…
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Cast
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Shirley MacLaine
as Pearl Berman
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Kathy Bates
as Bibby
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Jessica Tandy
as Freida
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Marcello Mastroianni
as Joe Meledandri
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Marcia Gay Harden
as Norma
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Sylvia Sidney
as Becky
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Joe Pantoliano
as Frank
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Matthew Branton
as Swee'Pea
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Bob Dishy
as Jack Berman
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Charles Cioffi
as Paolo
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Louis Guss
as Uncle Normy
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Helen Hanft
as Aunt Ruthie
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Irving Metzman
as Uncle Al
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Doris Roberts
as Aunt Lonnie
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Lee Wallace
as Uncle Harry
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Ida Bemardini
as Aunt Louisa
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Dominic Cuzzocrea
as Rabbi
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Diane D'Aquila
as Rose
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Gil Filar
as Mark
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Maia Filar
as Rhonda
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David Gow
as Bill the Jeweler
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Luba Goy
as Nursing Home Staff Member
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Sam Hutchinson
as Crying Baby
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Genevieve Langlois
as French Teacher
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Jim Millan
as Priest
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Janet Richardson
as Carla
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Michael Ricupero
as Eddie
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Rosario Russo
as Theresa
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Stuart Stone
as Cousin Stevie
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Emma Tammi
as Young Bibby
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Jeremy Trancz
as Cousin Matthew
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Asia Vieira
as Young Norma
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Stephanie Voves
as Girl at Wedding
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Philip Williams
as Vic
- Mary Colquhoun
