Main Cast: Walter Matthau, Ossie Davis, Amy Irving, Martha Plimpton, Craig T. Nelson
Release Year: 1996
Country: US
Run Time: 135 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
In this screen adaptation of the award-winning play by Herb Gardner (who also directed the film), Nat Moyer (Walter Matthau) and Midge Carter (Ossie Davis) are two elderly men who sit on the same park bench each afternoon and have developed a relationship based on playful verbal sparring. Nat is an eccentric Jewish leftist who uses a dizzying variety of voices and assumed personalities to get his way, while Midge is the African-American superintendent of an apartment building who is afraid that he's going to be put out to pasture, as he's about to turn 80. Nat tries to encourage Midge to join him in his good-natured con games (which are performed for good causes and not for profit), but Midge remains wary. While Midge sweats out a possible retirement, Nat is trying to deal with his daughter Clara (Amy Irving), who wants to put him in a nursing home. Meanwhile, a drug dealer called The Cowboy (Craig T. Nelson) has claimed the park as his own territory, and Nat, impersonating a Mafia don, tries to run him out, while he befriends Laurie (Martha Plimpton), a young woman hooked on dope. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Watching two old geezers putter around Central Park may not be most people's idea of engaging cinema, but I'm Not Rappaport makes this kind of septuagenarian buddy dramedy tolerable enough. Walter Matthau and Ossie Davis, both pushing 80, prove they still have sharp command of dialogue and humor, so their lengthy conversations don't induce seat squirming as fast as they might in lesser hands. Matthau in particular is fun as an accomplished and compulsive liar, who fragments together plausible personas without missing a beat. Still, Herb Gardner's adaptation and direction of his own play can't overcome the narrow appeal of its subject matter. It's a great showcase for actors usually relegated to supporting roles (or sent out to pasture) by their age, but that's not much of a selling point beyond their immediate families or fan clubs. Matthau's Marxist meddling with a variety of secondary characters feels stagy, and his scenes with his estranged daughter (Amy Irving) are flat and superfluous. Gardner does capture some of the invigorating life force of Central Park, but 135 minutes of it is too much. A two-person character study should clock in at well under two hours, especially when the characters travel in such a slim radius. I'm Not Rappaport is like one of those long, rambling stories told by a grandfather in dire need of attention, unaware his polite audience is bored to tears. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Ginger Tougas - Art Director, Lynn Kressel - Casting, Jennifer Von Mayrhauser - Costume Designer, Yudi Bennett - First Assistant Director, Herb Gardner - Director, Emily Paine - Editor, Wendey Stanzler - Editor, David Sameth - Executive Producer, Gerry Mulligan - Songwriter, Mark Friedberg - Production Designer, Adam Holender - Cinematographer, John Penotti - Producer, John Starke - Producer, James J. Sabat - Sound/Sound Designer, Herb Gardner - Screenwriter
Inspired by two elderly men Gardner met in New York City's Central Park, it focuses on Nat Moyer, a cantankerous white Jew, and Midge Carter, a feisty African-American, who spend their days sitting on a bench, trying to mask the horrible realities of aging, mainly through the tall tales that Nat spins. The play touches on several issues, including society’s treatment of the aging, the difficulties dealing with adult children who think they know what's best for their parents, and the dangers that lurk in urban areas.
Its title comes from an old vaudeville joke, a variation of which evolved into dialogue between the two protagonists:
Nat: Hey, Rappaport! I haven't seen you in ages. How have you been?
Midge: I'm not Rappaport.
Nat: Rappaport, what happened to you? You used to be a short fat guy, and now you're a tall skinny guy.
Midge: I'm not Rappaport.
Nat: Rappaport, you used to be a young guy with a beard, and now you're an old guy with a mustache.
Midge: I'm not Rappaport.
Nat: Rappaport, how has this happened? You used to be a cowardly little white guy, and now you're a big imposing black guy.
