I recently read Philip Roth did not like this movie... but I thought it captured the book quite well. Poor Richard Benjamin, he was soooooo good at playing the slimey characters, wasnt he? This and Diary of a Mad Housewife....This is not as funny as the book, to me, the scene in the book of Portnoy in the family bathroom was hysterical and a stand out, it was humorous in the movie but not laugh out loud. However, it is a captivating movie and if you, like I do, LOVE Karen Black, then this is the movie to see. She is so talented and gorgeous, at first I thought, is she playing her role from Five Easy Pieces, but no, she is not. This is a raunchy, sexist, angry movie and sadly ( like the book ) so disparaging of Jewish women, but yet I really enjoyed it. Funny, Karen Black playing a so called shiksa in the movie when actually her heritage is Jewish. She was busting the stereotype right there! Good girl!
Total Classic I disagree that this movie is dated. I was born long before it's release and caught it one night on Bravo many years ago. It's highly offensive and absolutley hysterical. This deserves to be on DVD.
Bring Back Alexander Portnoy or I'll Complain! I saw Portnoy's Complaint when it first hit the theatres back in the early 1970s. I was just a teenager going through my own trials and tribulations at the time. I didn't give this movie much merit; I didn't realize the validity of this movie until years later, when I got to know a Jewish boy with a so-called "typical Jewish mother." Suddenly, it all made a whole lot of sense.
Very few movies are uniquely funny, but this movie most definitely is. Alexander Portnoy is a concupiscent Jewish adolescent whose solitary goal in life is to satisfy a very hungry libido in spite of an overbearing mother who nearly drives him to the loony-bin.
I have been waiting for this movie to be re-released for many years. This movie is a classic. I'm disappointed that the decision to release it is still in the lurch. That is MY only complaint about this film.
An Excellent Movie!! In this 1972 movie,directed by Earnest Lehman based on the novel.Starring Richard Benjamin as Alexander Portnoy during his session with his analyst,goes on from one flashback to another about his his family,childhood,sexual fantasies,women problems and his religious obsession.This is an excellent, very interesting,must see film especially for Richard Benjamin fans!!
Anything Goes Trivia
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