The Old Coot asked that I order this movie as he had seen the last part of it on tv and wanted to see the whole movie. He is very much a Walter Matthau fan.So we watched it a few nights ago. I knew nothing about it except it had originally been a Broadway play. The dialogue, presumably from the play, makes up a good bit of the movie.
Not that there isn't action. Au contraire there is lots of action provided by a drug dealer, a pretty female artist who owed the dealer money, a punk on a skateboard who blackmailed the elderly, and the President of a tenants' association who jogged in his spare time. Add to this plenty of street characters, a carousel, and Central Park for colorful action.
"I'm Not Rappaport" is about storytelling. It combines the talents of Matthau and Ossie Davis to tell the story of the brief relationship between Mel (Matthau) and Midge (Davis) which is built around stories.
Mel's true name is not revealed until the last scene because he still lives out the role of a fantasized Socialist labor union organizer and spends his hours following his philosophy "to shake things up."
Midge serves as his unwilling foil, and straight man, as he reluctantly listens to and believes Mel's tall tales. The plot moves when the men take action on these tales.
The title of the movie comes from a joke that's told three times, and which sums up the movie's theme of loss of identity, or should I say non-identity of the elderly. Not as lyrical, the title could have been "I'm Not A Nobody; I Was An Ordinary Joe, But In Fantasy, I Am Somebody."
This movie has appeal for viewers who love words and syntax as there are jewels of language throughout.
Old Crones and Coots
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