Search - Love Comes Lately on DVD

Isaac Bashevis Singer Adaptation

The Movie Man | Maywood, New Jersey USA | 02/01/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Love Comes Lately" is based on three short stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer that combine fiction, fantasy, and autobiography into a comedy/drama of the conflict between the male ego and the inevitable physical decline of age. Though in a longtime relationship with Reisel (Rhea Perlman), octogenarian author Max Kohn (Otto Tausig) uses his frequent book tours as opportunities to let erotic imagination take flight. But his fantasy flings with a needy widow (Caroline Aaron) and a Cuban housekeeper (Elizabeth Pena) give way to a real-life intimate encounter with a former student (Barbara Hershey). Finally, a fondly recalled but painful interlude with a free-spirited woman (Tovah Feldsuh) challenges Max's peace of mind even as it inspires him.

Uniformly first-class performances give life to the characters here. Writer/director Jan Schutte portrays Singer alter-ego Max Kohn as a guy who, even at his advanced age, has little difficulty attracting women. What may seem at first a dirty old man on the prowl evolves into a fully fleshed-out character study of a writer who creates as long as he is inspired, and is inspired as long as he creates."