I should qualify,First of all, this is the best, most encapsulating movie of the 80's ever produced, IT IS THE SINGULAR HIGHEST PERFOMRNACE OF BURNDADETTE PETERS (which is an outstanding recommendation considering how talented this woman is/even with that talent she has been circumscribed by second-rate films which do not do justice to HER TALENT WHICH THIS FILM TOTALLY DOES!!!)...DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY THIS HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED ON DVD???....this is (and I usually like books better/and having read this novel) the BEST reproduciton of Tama Janowitz's novel-and (having lived in the East Village of NYC during this period) THE MOST STRAIGHTFOWARD/TRUTHFUL/ACCURATE OF FILM REPRESENTATIONS...this is a modern Don Quixote set to 80's East Village setting...the music selection could NOT BE MORE PERFECT!!! (and is still more inspiring than anything produced today)..the character of Stash also amazing....but Burnadette Peters with Ashtray Lopsided Hat is beyond PERFECT...this is perhaps MY FAVORITE MOVIE OF ALL TIME...PLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE RELEASE ON DVD...Merchant/Ivory has never produced anything less than a first rate film!!!!!..that should also make it a sure bett for those concerned more with financial risk of releasing this CLASSIC!!!!

I liked this movie - though I was surprised to read the novel and find it very very different. Bernadette Peters is very funny and endearing. My only problem is that this is nearly the exact same character she played onstage in SONG AND DANCE (won a Tony for it) except the girl is American, not British. Lower the boom!

It can't be easy to bring a Tama Janowitz novel to the screen. Her characters are strange and chronically flawed. Her plots progress like real life -- loosely, with lots of extraneous details and false starts -- yet contain a lot of wacky situations which we have trouble relating to reality (until we really think about it, and realize it's weird because it REALLY HAPPENS, everyday). I love her sense of humour and her style of writing, especially since her novels don't follow a traditional form of plot development.That said, this movie could have been better. I don't think that the split-screen presentation of different scenes works at all, and many of the actors don't seem to understand why they're uttering the lines -- I don't think they "get it." Adam Coleman Howard (Stash) struggles valiantly, but always seems one step behind his character. Madeleine Potter (Daria) isn't very convincing either. Bruce Peter Young (Mikell) looks by turns bored and baffled. And -- perhaps the biggest injustice of all -- the knight in shining armour at the end is a terrible actor; instead of being happy and hopeful at the emergence -- finally! -- of a single genuine person in Eleanor's life, I couldn't get beyond his wooden delivery.Everyone else is great, however. Bernadette Peters seems tailor-made to star in a Janowitz adaptation, as do many of the other oddball characters (Wilfredo, Mooshka, Samantha, the Japanese film crew). Things pick up in the second half, and it certainly gets funnier as it goes along...Eleanor mentions a dream she had the other night about a baby with long arms and legs like a chimpanzee, "but it was cute." The party (and the blender) is a blast. After so long in more-or-less quiet neutral, the last half hour kicks into gear.Some people mentioned, "how could Eleanor put up with Stash?" Well, look around, sadly...there are lots of Eleanors and lots of Stash's (people who are "abridged" like their "tentacles have been cut off at the wrist"). As for the odd artsy SoHo characters...compare this film to "Mondo New York" and see that, if anything, Janowitz has missed out on a few bizarre and self-indulgent art types.Don't expect to be on the edge of your seat when you watch this one. Just sit back, enjoy, and take it for what it is: an expose on the New York art world in the 80's, and an examination of one woman attempting to deal with a city full of shallow, uncaring, jealous and stupid people.

this is a very cool little film.i rented it because i really dig the actors that are in it.this film apply represents the artsy community and how they all hang out and go to parties together.maybe its not for everyone, because since its independent its not effervescing with action scenes. the pace of the movie is cool because it is just like real life.you go places and meet people and try to pursue goals that may or may not work out. its important that artsy people should see this film, because everyone in it represents someone they know.great cameos from mercedes ruehl, stanley tucci, steve buscemi, and bernadette also does a great job as eleanor who lives with her crass and selfish boyfriend.