I've watched this movie twice before I dared comment. I'm beginning to wonder if there are two versions of it floating around. The one I've seen both times centers on a little nebishy 80 year old guy named Max, who blunders somewhat ineffectually through life, while attractive younger women (not young, just younger than he) who seem to find him irresistible. Barbara Hershey is gorgeous, the Latina maid, the widow, Ethel. What the hell do they SEE in this old man? He's no great wit or charmer and he sure ain't good looking. So there's this credibility gap right at the core of the film. It's a nice fantasy to have - that when you reach a certain age, women will flock to you simply because you're alive and (presumably) available. But it undermines the film. This probably worked better as a book, allowing the reader to cast the various roles.Maybe this was a great story and it's just the casting that undermines it. In any case, the pacing and understated style will make this film toxic for anyone under 50.

Imagine a man in his 80s who attracts a succession of much younger, beautiful women who want nothing more than to seduce him. Sound unbelievable? Well, the man in question happens to be a writer who confuses reality with his own imaginings. Is he making this story up in some sort of narcissistic haze? The viewer is never quite sure. Some may like this ambiguity; I came to find it a bore. "Love Comes Lately" starts out all right. We see Kohn in a neurotic relationship with his longtime girlfriend, played nicely by Rhea Feldman. He seems mildly charming at this point, if a tad manipulative and dishonest. But then the movie deteriorates into the series of interludes with women who find Kohn irresistible. It was sad to see the wonderful Barbara Hershey cast as one of these deluded groupies. Someone must have discovered Otto Tausig and thought him cute but it was fantasy to think he could sustain a feature-length film.

If you are looking for a movie with a lot of action and witty dialogue, then this movie is not for you. It is a simple story about a simple man as he looks into the future and realizes his own mortality and then thinks back to his long, and what he believes, is not that eventful of a life, even though he is a sought-after lecturer in his 80s. But the audience, and Max does realize that he did have an eventful life after all. The movie does move along slowly, but there is enough interest going on with all the characters that keep popping in and out to keep your interest. Our protagonist, Max, is an 80-year-old author out on a lecture circuit, and along the way to each lecture he's formulating in his mind a story, which he finally writes down, and a story we find out at the end of the movie he began to write at the beginning of the movie, if not before. So while we are watching the movie, especially the scenes where it is obvious he is in Florida, or has a different haircut, or even a different name, we know it's part of this continuing story. It all comes together at the end of the movie. Tausig as Max is perfect. Perlman as his current lady friend (but is that also part of his story?) finally showed me that she is a capable actress. Pena, as usual, is spot on. This is one of those movies AARP would recommend, as I do not think anyone under the age of 50 is really going to get it. Or maybe some will. This is also a movie not to be over-analyzed. And the music, well, I want a recording, and the sheet music! Some of the best ever.

We saw the film at the hamburg filmfest, it was lovely, warm and entertaining and gave a complete different idea about love and age. The main actor Otto Tausig is outstanding, very funny and charming. The story is based on three Isaak Bashevis Singer short stories and merges them very beautifully and organic into one script. The photography of the film is stunning, and it shows America in a different, maybe a little European light (the film has been shot in New York, New England, Florida and California). The music, composed by Henning Lohner from LA and Berlin, was great as well. . Really worthwhile seeing! Josef Sigmund, Hamburg