Fast Food Fast Women

Amos Kollek directs this quiet, understated comedy about lonely hearts and empty pockets in New York. Pushing 40, Bella works as a waitress at a small downtown diner in Manhattan. Her elderly regulars include Paul, a lovelorn retiree who scours the personal ads and his ill-tempered buddies Seymour and Graham, who are more than a little disparaging toward Paul's attempts at finding love. Involved in a 12-year relationship with married Broadway theater director George, Bella craves marriage and children. On a blind date set up by her mother, Bella meets Bruno, a divorced cabbie and fledgling novelist with two young children. Meanwhile, Paul meets ready-and-willing widow Emily, while Seymour shacks up with Wanda, a stripper with a master's degree. (Jonathan Crow)