Not! But for the young Jewish Eugene (Jonathan Silverman, taking over the role he played on Broadway, originated by Matthew Broderick),he's living in a much more innocent time, where his biggest challenges include making it across the street with the glass milk bottle in his hand that his mother made him return for the deposit, keeping his drawings of the female anatomy out of the hands of his older brother, and trying to control his lust for his sexy cousin (Lisa Waltz) and even his own widowed aunt (Judith Ivey). If this makes Eugene sound a bit sick or at least majorly weird, it gives him various characteristics and confirms his heterosexuality.

The semi-autobiographical series of plays by Neil Simon seem stagy to some, but in an era of blockbusters, "Hamlet" on screen with Laurence Olivier would be stagy! Silverman's Eugene is surrounded by a wonderfully eccentric Jewish family, much like Woody Allen's clan in "Radio Days", just miles away at Far Rockaway. The wonderful Blythe Danner allows her beautiful face to be dowdied as the hard working mother with a hidden bitterness towards her sister, Bob Dishy as the quietly understanding father whom everybody goes to for sage advice; Stacey Glick as the precocious sister (watch Alfred Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt" and see if you don't see a similarity with that family's youngest daughter, Anne) and Brian Drillinger is the troubled older brother who is faced with humiliation for standing up to his tyrannical boss. Ivey, one of the gems of stage, screen and television, totally reminds me of the lovable Dianne Wiest's character in "Radio Days" with her ever optimistic attitude that never fades even though romances come and go. Dishy, who played a couple of eccentric characters on "Golden Girls" ("Mr. Terrific", for example) is totally recognizable, but the usually sophisticated Danner (Will Truman's mother on "Will and Grace", DeNiro's wife in "Meet the Parents", etc.) bravely lets herself go, and gives a performance of massive strength and understatement.

While "Radio Days" took place throughout World War II, this is set in the late 1930's, with mentions of Europe at War on the radio that Dishy demands that nobody touch. This is more of a linear plot line than Woody Allen's sketchy but hysterically funny film. The sweetness and less in your face crudeness of today's films helps make this stand out in a nostalgic yet not cloying manner of "We had a better life than you do today" way that some film makers remind us of. Ivey and Danner would ironically be reunited 15 years later for the first Broadway revival of "Follies". Teenagers and adolescents of the 30's and 40's in my opinion did have it better, with the Masked Avenger Ring and Jitterbugging a great predecessor to today's I-Pads, Cellphones and Crap Music.

Blythe Danner and Judith Ivey deliver wonderful performances here as Jonathan Silverman, as Eugene, recounts his life in 1937's Brighton Beach.

What makes the film so good is the relationships among the characters with a backdrop of extremely wonderful family values.

Bob Dishy had a marvelous opportunity here as the father of the clan. He gives a restrained but compelling performance as the patriarch of the family.

His sons played by Jonathan Silverman and Brian Dillinger are fabulous. There are certain scenes when Silverman is skating or hopping where I'm reminded of Jerry Lewis.

As for Danner and Ivey, they too are wonderful. Their mannerisms, intonation and idealism of the Jewish culture are beautifully realized by them.

The cinematography is just wonderful. Beautiful Brighton in 1937! Even as the inevitability of war loomed, the film is rich with many of the typical problems faced by families in that period. In a sense, you don't have to be Jewish to experience what the family is going through.

A must see for nostalgic buffs, and those of us who believe so strongly in family values.

It's 1937 Brighton Beach Brooklyn. Eugene Morris Jerome (Jonathan Silverman) is a young Jewish boy who dreams of pitching for the Yankees but probably will be a writer. His aunt Blanche and her daughters live with them after her husband's death. The older daughter Nora wants to be in a Broadway play and the younger Laurie is sickly. His father Jack works extra hard to feed the extra mouths. His mother Kate is in charge of everybody. His older brother Stanley is struggling with his job problem.

My main problem with this is that Jonathan Silverman is too old to play this role. He's as tall as Brian Drillinger. I can imagine the lines being much funnier coming from a kid. Coming from a 20 year old, it sounds a bit dumb. Gene Saks's directions are functional. It's the words from Neil Simon that gets a few laughs. It is his play that is touching. The translation to the big screen isn't the best but it still works.