“There are two types of people in the world. Those the sun shines on, and there are those who sell lox.” Walter “Putzel” Himmelstein is clearly one of the latter. At “30-ish,” his marriage is failing and his “forty-year plan” includes inheriting his family’s appetizing emporium, Himmelstein’s House of Lox, and then working there for 40 years. Putzel also has another problem: he can’t leave the Upper West Side. Limited to the area between 59th and 116th Streets, Putzel’s life is circumscribed by fear and inaction.
Enter Sally, a dancer-bartender from the Midwest, who upends the Himmelsteins’ life and plans. It’s not hard to guess how the plot unfolds, but the fun is in watching it happen. This endearing romantic comedy is reminiscent of the best of Woody Allen‘s neuroses—and a nice send-up of quaint Jewish Upper West Side isolationism. You’ll root for Putzel to leave his 57-block self-imposed ghetto, drink schnapps in the street, and maybe even contemplate a move to Brooklyn.
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Watch the trailer for the film here:
Putzel Trailer #2 from Jason Chaet on Vimeo.
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