Review

Herb Gardner adapted and directed his Tony Award-winning play about the tender and comic relationship between two disparate New York senior citizens. The stage show was more fluid, but this engaging character piece is buoyed by two endearing performances given by Matthau and Davis. Nat (Matthau) is a rascally 80-year-old Jewish leftist who meets half-blind building custodian Midge (Davis), a black man his same age, during visits to Central Park. Though Midge really wants nothing to do with him, Nat slowly ingratiates himself into Midge's life. The charm of the story is Gardner's wonderful characterizations of Nat and Midge, who most of the time are either feuding, telling jokes, or becoming involved in the lives of some of the park's habitués. Through telling moments, Gardner imparts thoughtful observances towards the realities of aging in urban America, producing laughs and poignant moments, alike.