A gangster's tough ex-girlfriend (Gena Rowlands) protects an orphaned Puerto Rican boy (John Adames) the mob wants dead.
Depressed and jaded after being dumped by her married boyfriend, aging beauty Minnie Moore (Gena Rowlands) wonders if she'll ever find love. After shaggy-haired parking lot attendant Seymour Moskowitz (Seymour Cassel) comes to her defense from an angry and rebuffed blind date, he falls hopelessly in love with her despite their myriad differences. Minnie reluctantly agrees to a date with Moskowitz, and, slowly but surely, an unlikely romance blossoms between the two.
Music teacher Jean Hansen (Judy Garland) works with children at a state mental hospital. Although often at odds with the autocratic director, Dr. Matthew Clark (Burt Lancaster), about teaching methods, she quickly bonds with her students, particularly 12-year-old Reuben (Bruce Ritchey), whose parents, Sophie (Gena Rowlands) and Ted (Steven Hill), left the boy at the institution following their divorce. As the students practice for a Thanksgiving pageant, Jean questions the parents' decision.
At a party, Lelia (Lelia Goldoni), a young African-American girl with a light complexion, meets Tony (Anthony Ray), a somewhat callow white musician, and they begin a romance. Lelia thinks she's in love, but Tony is surprised when he meets her older brother, Hugh (Hugh Hurd), and realizes she's black. Hugh is an unsuccessful singer with a hostile attitude, while Lelia's other sibling, Ben (Ben Carruthers), is trying to make it as a trumpet player when he isn't getting into trouble.
Cosmo Vittelli (Ben Gazzara), the proprietor of a sleazy, low-rent Hollywood cabaret, has a real affection for the women who strip in his peepshows and the staff who keep up his dingy establishment. He also has a major gambling problem that has gotten him in trouble before. When Cosmo loses big-time at an underground casino run by mobster Mort (Seymour Cassel), he isn't able to pay up. Mort then offers Cosmo the chance to pay back his debt by knocking off a pesky, Mafia-protected bookie.
The quiet, simple family lives of Gus, Harry and Archie (John Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk) are shattered when their best friend, Stuart, has a heart attack and dies suddenly. Now facing their mortality, the three men fall into their own midlife crises. First by spending their days playing basketball and nights drinking, and eventually by ditching their families altogether for a sudden getaway to London, where they face the temptation to cheat on their wives for the first time.
Middle-aged suburban husband Richard (John Marley) abruptly tells his wife, Maria (Lynn Carlin), that he wants a divorce. As Richard takes up with a younger woman (Gena Rowlands), Maria enjoys a night on the town with her friends and meets a younger man (Seymour Cassel). As the couple and those around them confront a seemingly futile search for what they've lost -- love, excitement, passion -- this classic American independent film explores themes of aging and alienation.
A troubled divorcee (Gena Rowlands) and a moody writer (John Cassavetes) are apart and then together, sharing a special relation.
Actress Myrtle Gordon (Gena Rowlands) is a functioning alcoholic actress who is a few days from the opening night of her latest play, concerning a woman distraught about aging. One night a car kills one of Myrtle's fans who is chasing her limousine in an attempt to get the star's attention. Myrtle internalizes the accident and goes on a spiritual quest, but fails to finds the answers she is after. As opening night inches closer and closer, fragile Myrtle must find a way to make the show go on.
Mabel Longhetti (Gena Rowlands), desperate and lonely, is married to a Los Angeles municipal construction worker, Nick (Peter Falk). Increasingly unstable, especially in the company of others, she craves happiness, but her extremely volatile behavior convinces Nick that she poses a danger to their family and decides to commit her to an institution for six months. Alone with a trio of kids to raise on his own, he awaits her return, which holds more than a few surprises.
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