"Bye Bye Braverman" is one of the best things to come out of the 60s and to this date is still one of the best films around. Ostensibly it tells the story of 4 middle aged Jewish friends (George Segal, Jack Warden, Joseph Wiseman, and Sorrell Booke) who get together to attend the funeral of their friend, Leslie Braverman. In their journey to their friend's ultimate resting place, they consider life and death, egg rolls, marriage, upholstery, friendship, and auto repairs.
Along the way, they encounter a black Jewish cab driver (Godfrey Cambridge in one of his finest performances) and a rabbi who's got a twist (Alan King who manages to go for the funny instead of the self promotion). These two sequences are worth the price of admission alone. But the piece de resistance comes at the end as George Segal talks to thousands of deceased souls and fills them in on what's been happening since "we beat the Depression." More than half a century later his words still ring true, and I suspect will do so for another half century at least.
You don't need to be Jewish, or come from New York to enjoy this film, but it helps.
Along the way, they encounter a black Jewish cab driver (Godfrey Cambridge in one of his finest performances) and a rabbi who's got a twist (Alan King who manages to go for the funny instead of the self promotion). These two sequences are worth the price of admission alone. But the piece de resistance comes at the end as George Segal talks to thousands of deceased souls and fills them in on what's been happening since "we beat the Depression." More than half a century later his words still ring true, and I suspect will do so for another half century at least.
You don't need to be Jewish, or come from New York to enjoy this film, but it helps.