'Boynton Beach Club'

Comments (0) By Ella Taylor Tuesday, Jul 25 2006

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Boynton Beach Club
Directed by Susan Seidelman
Roadside Attractions/Samuel Goldwyn, opens August 4

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With due respect for older moviegoers hungry to see the pains and pleasures of aging represented on the big screen, it hurts to think that some of them are willing to be fobbed off with this execrable excuse for a senior comedy, which only got a distributor after it screened through the roof among the Early Bird crowd in Florida. Sloppily cooked up by Desperately Seeking Susan’s Susan Seidelman and her mom, Florence, Boynton Beach Club is set in an active-adult retirement community, with a fairly distinguished cast trying to bend itself around a gag-ridden screenplay about bereaved seniors looking for love and friendship. A threadbare plot peeks through the shopworn jokes about Viagra, stashed-away dildos, and eager old dames delivering unsolicited casseroles to freshly widowed men. Sally Kellerman and Len Cariou bring some sorely needed self-respect to a couple going through dating pains, and Dyan Cannon, once you get over the shock of what the surgeons have done to her face, makes a warm and lively friend to newly widowed Brenda Vaccaro. The rest is best seen as a pilot for a Golden Girls spinoff, ready for cancellation in week two.