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FAST FOOD FAST WOMEN Send This Review to a Friend
Writer-director Amos Kollek, Israeli-born but artistically busy in the United States, goes his own way as a filmmaker with an eye toward zeroing in on the day to day lives of characters coping with life but not the sort of characters that Hollywood studios look toward in their quest for blockbusters. In seeing a Kollek film one generally can expect an affectionate look at quirky individuals and situations. "Fast Food Fast Women," a title which refers to something other than fast ladies on the loose, focuses on the quest for relationships in New York with its takeoff point a neighborhood diner.
Anna Thomson, who plays Bella, an independent-spirited waitress, is an actress with high cheekbones, full lips and a fetching manner of speaking and moving in casual way that makes her distinctive from other actresses. She's attractively offbeat and fascinating to observe. Bella finally ditches a married theater producer (Austin Pendleton) who comes over for quickies but despite their ten-year affair isn't going to leave his wife for her. A new involvement develops with Bruno (Jamie Harris), a would-be writer working as a cab driver, who has two children. Not knowing of his fatherhood at first and not wanting to say anything divisive, Bella responds to a probing question by saying she doesn't like children. She and Bruno are on a route of miscommunication.
A parallel pairing is that of Paul (Robert Modica), a widower who eats at the diner with his cronies and Emily, whose personal column ad intrigues him and leads to their meeting. Louise Lasser, a long way from the Woody Allen film days, brings warmth and dignity to the role, with Emily more aggressive than Paul, who wants a relationship but is reticent. There's an excellent diner scene revealing the put-down by Paul's lonely friends out of their jealousy at his efforts to find a more exciting life.
Kollek's film thrives on the wry way in which he looks at his characters and their situations, and his cast, including Judith Roberts as Bella's insensitive mother, does the rest. This is a small-scale film, but perhaps Kollek's best to date. It is for audiences who like to become immersed in aspects of the everyday city life with candid peeks into the concerns, aspirations and behavior of the sort of people who might be living nearby in real life. Well, not completely. I don't know anyone who, like Bella, will walk onto a fire escape and toss the towel covering her nakedness down to a gawking youth or a homeless man. But thanks, Amos, for creating a character who will. A Lot 47 Films release.
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