Isabelle Grossman (Amy Irving) is a 33 year old Jewish girl working at a New York bookstore. She is enamored with author Anton Maes (Jeroen Krabbé) who she meets at the bookstore party. She loves her life on the edge of the intellectual world. Her parents are in Florida. Her beloved Bubbie or grandmother gets local matchmaker Hannah Mandelbaum to set her up. She's introduced to Sam Posner (Peter Riegert) who owns a pickle shop. She's not interested at first and even tries to set him up with her friend Marilyn surreptitiously.

This is the anti-single gal rom-com. Her single life is somewhat sad. The movie takes little digs like all the lonely looking women around the salad bar. Yet she's always proclaiming her love of her life. It's a rom-com that can cut a little too close. Amy Irving is very lovely and loving. Peter Riegert has the sincerity but needs a bit more charm. There are some funny moments and some very poignant ones. The ending is a bit too abrupt as if the movie ran out of film. This movie has a point of view and has a compelling romance.

Crossing Delancey and Essex is dangerous at any point of the day, but when a single but sweet book seller (Amy Irving) finds romance with a pickle man (the likable Peter Riegert),it's going to be complicated. She's got all sorts of headaches. When first seen, she's slyly removing the shop-lifted book from an obviously wealthy kleptomaniac during a book store signing event, and has issues with a Dutch author who won't leave her alone, a neighbor with relationships of his own, and most lovingly, her "bubbie" (Reizl Bozyk),aka her Jewish grandmother who most likely raised her who intends to see her married. Enter marriage broker Sylvia Miles (at her most obnoxious) and you can see why Irving has remained single. She's feeling pressure from all sides, but the sweet pickle man might just be the one to bring her out of her obviously lonely, if still very busy, life.

New York in the 1980's was a fascinating place, as busy as any era past and present, dangerous yet exciting. The lower East side remains one of the busiest sections of the city outside of Midtown, and is culturally one of the most mixed. Great location scenes of various New York areas fill the camera lens as it is obvious that Irving doesn't live anywhere near there yet knows it even more than where she most likely lives now. She's patient and calm with everybody, even the aggressive Miles who at one point grabs her and won't let her go until she hears her out. But don't be put off by Miles as aggressive as she is. She's not just a modern day Yente; She really believes in what she is doing, and at one point softens her aggressiveness by admitting that every now and then, she actually manages to be completely right.

While Irving and Riegert are a lovely couple as book seller and pickle seller and deliver the goods, it is Reizl Bozyk, a Polish born stage actress, who wins the praise as the feisty grandmother, loving and devoted, extremely well meaning and filled with a sparkle that outshines the Chrysler Building. Her good intentions in her case are the pathway to Paradise for her, and she is a treasure to watch in the only mainstream film she ever appeared in. Jeroen Krabbé is a bit hard to take as the over zealous Dutch writer, but it is obvious that he doesn't stand a chance of winning Irving over. The great Broadway leading lady Rosemary Harris shines in a cameo as a poetry writer, while musical character actress Paula Laurence is hysterical in a deli scene where she all of a sudden breaks out into "Some Enchanted Evening" with Irving as her target.

Small little gems in the detail make this shine as a sweet little sleeper of a film. Joan Micklin Silver made a name for herself in modern Jewish cinema by directing the cult classic "Hester Street" which brought an Oscar Nomination for Carol Kane, and gets some equally fine performances here from her wonderful cast. Sweet background music helps move the story along, although some of it distinctly sounds like some of the score for the movie version of "On Golden Pond". At almost 30 years old now, this film stands the test of time in its vision of life in lesser known Manhattan neighborhoods, the only difference now being that you probably can't walk down these busy streets without bumping into somebody reading their phone.

When Crossing Delancey was made the Lower East Side of Manhattan was changing rapidly. The Williamsburg Bridge approach started the change back in the early days of the last century. A midpoint might be the construction of the projects where Reizl Bozyk playing Amy Irving's grandmother still hangs on. Another point would be 1988 where Delancey Street, the heart of the Jewish neighborhood you now see Ms. Bozyk doing her shopping at a Korean grocer and picking up a few words in Korean to get by. Back in the day people like a young James Cagney picked up and was fluent in Yiddish.

I'm sure enough of that rapidly changing area which now has Yuppies moving in is still visible. How many matchmakers like Sylvia Miles are still in business? I wager very few if any at all.

Amy Irving is such a Yuppie, she's a literary agent but she has ties to the area through her grandmother whom she visits regularly. She's a thirty something who proclaims that she's in no rush to marry. That is almost sacrilege to Bozyk who puts Miles on her case immediately.

Moving as she does with the literati Irving is not altogether thrilled with Peter Riegert who with his brother owns a pickle business on Delancey and Essex. But this is the movies and Riegert does gradually grow on her. Especially when she sees that a lot of whom Irving has looked up to turn out to be phonies.

Reizl Bozyk who is a lighter version of Molly Picon and a graduate of the Yiddish Theater steals every scene she's in. I'm surprised she wasn't given Oscar consideration. She has some competition with Miles though, the original Yenta. Their scenes remind me of when we got together with my father's family.

Some mention should be given Peter Riegert who is great as a plain down to earth guy most comfortable with himself. It's not the most glamorous of jobs, but pickles make him a good living, a steadier one than the people Irving hangs with. His idea of a good place to go is Yankee or Shea Stadium. I imagine he's middle aged now and with his family and the new Yankee Stadium or CitiField.

The biggest star of Crossing Delancey is the neighborhood itself which could never be recreated on a Hollywood sound stage. Reason enough to see Crossing Delancey and enjoy the people who live and work there.