Greatornot
This film though artsy ,was , well, you guessed it redundant. Growing up as a middle man for a brothel and being introduced to sex from a countess at the ripe old age of 11 or so, Andres becomes a stud, not gigolo , for sex starved housewives, between 30 and 40 or so. Taking place in Hungary during mid century, this film even seemed that much more far fetched. Andres , not having luck with teens his own age , ventures for older women. Going through women like the rest of the male population goes through underwear, this film did not have much of a point. Surely women can not be as pathetic as they were in this film? The cheesy lines were as ridiculous as the revolving door of a plot, that just kept going around and around. In the one scene, where a stupid line did not work, conveniently there was an attractive older lady, dining alone,ahemmmm, at another table that somehow saved the day for Andres. Too contrived, too predictable and well too soft porn. From a male perspective, lots of lovely visuals, but not much else going. Basically the open ending , just presumed more of the same, with nothing settled with Andres as far as his conscience or simply just becoming a mature adult. Another film, unlikable characters and a garbage pail.
Bjorn (ODDBear)
To be very honest, I can't really disagree with some of the negative reviews out there concerning this film. But every once in a while, some movie appeals to you and deep down you know that it's really not that good. As for this one, I've seen it a few times and I always enjoy it.The film basically covers all of Berenger's sexual adventures with women who are somewhat older than he is. While he seems to fall deeply in love with them, these relationships don't seem to work out for him.I really don't know what point this film is trying to make. Berenger's first real intimate relationship with Karen Black ends when he's unfaithful to her, his next one when he goes to Canada to escape turmoil in his country and leaves his rebel woman behind, the third woman is simply frigid and dumps him after he finally gets her off and finally he can't make it work with Helen Shaver.I simply enjoy the movie. Tom Berenger is my favorite actor and he's very appealing here, as always. On the whole, this film is well acted, Karen Black very good especially. The movie looks good enough, with convincing settings, but I think it was produced on a relatively low budget. It's fairly dramatic at times, especially when he has to leave one girlfriend behind in war ridden Hungary.This movie ain't spectacular or anything, but I like it.One quibble; what's with that poster. Seems like a porno flick, definitely not the cover for this film.
gridoon
Like someone else on this page has already said, this movie should not be approached as a serious period piece, but as a soft-core porn flick. The vapid characters have been stripped of all human dimensions except their sex drive. You kind of wonder when exactly Tom Berenger's character found the time to become a philosophy professor, since we almost always see him in a horizontal position, if you know what I mean. But nobody can deny that the film does have some genuinely erotic moments (Susan Strasberg steals the show in that department, as the always "hungry for more" Bobbie). (**)
Jan Hrubin
"In Praise of Older Women" is relatively true to the excellent psychological/philosophical novel it is based on. However, the problem is that all its intellectual elements (such as its theories about the reasoning behind promiscuity) are removed in the adaptation. The result is a soft porn movie which is unintentionally hilarious due to awkwardness and bad acting. Andras, the skirt-chasing protagonist, is presented as a dip who throws a temper tantrum when one of his lovers leaves him and delivers lines like "Give us the grand tour, pops." or "This exquisite antique ashtray could be yours if you promise to become my lover." as awkwardly as if he actually knew how lame he sounded (which Tom Berenger, who played him, probably did). A bad acting award should also go to the girl who played Andras´s first teenage girlfriend. She delivers her lines as if the characters she talked to were puppies or newborn babies but then, as my friend pointed out, she actually does act like a stupid flirty girl in her early teens who does not know what she wants in a boyfriend. The actresses who play Andras´s more adult girlfriends admittedly do a better job but still, they mostly play along with the soft porn cliche of upper class semi-intellectuals who treat sex as if it was art collecting or jogging. What do they see in a dork like Andras at their age anyway ? Also, what´s the deal with some of the Hungarian characters having Hungarian accents and the other Magyars having AMERICAN accents ? Nevertheless, I must reemphasize that this movie is fun. It made me laugh more than most typical "comedies" and some of the dramatic scenes, such as the one where Andras must flee Hungary , actually do work dramatically. The sex scenes, while pretty mild by today´s standards, look relatively realistic. The insights into Hungarian culture are interesting too. Nevertheless, trash is trash and I love it !
AD
