The year was 1976–a time when TV sets still had antennas, orange shag carpeting was classy, Pick ‘n Save was just a block away, people drank Tab, and families gathered around in their living rooms to watch Let’s Make a Deal. Millions of teenagers across America were trying to find themselves and their purpose in life. 16-year-old Vivian Abromowitz (Natasha Lyonne) is one of those teenagers.
Vintage Movie Review: Slums of Beverly Hills – just a really good time
| February 7, 2021 | No Comments
Vivian is restless, self-conscious, cynical, opinionated, and has a dry sense of humor. She has an amazing way of setting boundaries for her age, like when she tells a suitor, “I meant breasts–second base. That’s it!” Moreover, she is the glue that holds her nomadic Jewish family together. The family, in fact, moves from one crummy apartment to another every three months to maintain a Beverly Hills address so the kids can go to the best schools.
Lyonne puts in a star-making performance, faring far better than she does in Everyone Says I Love You. Here, the storyline is a more colorful one for her to narrate and her role is much more multifaceted. Lyonne is backed up by a delightful supporting cast, including Alan Arkin as her endearing dad and David Krumholtz as her oh-so-supportive older brother. Marisa Tomei plays Rita, Vivian’s neurotic, pill-popping cousin, who has just escaped from rehab.
If you have seen Arkin in Indian Summer, you are familiar with his hilarious knack for looking bored, expressionless, and mortified–all at the same time. This look alone is worth the price of admission when it is shot at Vivian’s little brother after he spits his drink five feet across the dinner table from laughing so hard over her “female problems.” Another classic scene finds Vivian and Rita singing along to Parliament’s “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)” while doing a Saturday Night Fever routine with Rita’s vibrator when Vivian’s dad walks in.
However, the film does have its weaknesses. For starters, the camera never seems to stand still. It moves dizzily and voyeuristically around, making you feel a little queasy. Also, Slums moves rather slowly. Moreover, there are considerable gaps in character development. You keep waiting for the characters to reach stunning realizations about themselves. They never do. Similarly, the unfinished ending leaves the plot in fragments. You feel a little cheated. Finally, a good soundtrack of ‘70’s music would have helped the film’s momentum, but it was surprisingly absent. Surely, this would’ve been an easy way to help capture the era.
With these objections noted, I dismiss them. Slums is not trying to make any profound statements or earth-shattering revelations. It is a fun film about taking stock of and cherishing all of the little things we usually take for granted in our daily lives. That’s it. And it doesn’t need to be anything more than that.
This article originally appeared in the September 17, 1998 edition of Towson University’s newspaper, The Towerlight. I was 20 years old when I wrote it. I have grown older and wiser with age and am much more well-rested than I was in my college days. I’m sure (and I hope) the same thing can be said for my editor. Therefore, I have made some revisions.
Stephanie Sklar is a 40-something-year-old writer whose work appears on The Movie Buff and Taffeta.com. She resides in Silver Spring, MD with her boyfriend, their daughter, and their two orange tabby cats, Slam (the shorter, fatter, lighter-colored, and more tabby one) and Allie (the longer, leaner, and skinnier hunter who is more Siamese, orange, and stealthier). She has a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication, with an emphasis in Film and Journalism, from Towson University. Stephanie loves the beach, boardwalking, Barn 34's pancakes, and soft-serve ice cream in Ocean City, MD.
