''Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?'' is a 1983 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Henry Jaglom Henry David Jaglom (born January 26, 1938) is an English-born American actor, film director and playwright. Life and career Jaglom was born to a Jewish family in London, England, the son of Marie (née Stadthagen) and Simon M. Jaglom, who w ...

. It was screened in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

section at the

1983 Cannes Film Festival The 36th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 19 May 1983. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Narayama Bushiko'' by Shōhei Imamura. In 1983, the new building for the main events of the festival, the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, was inaug ...

. The film takes place in and was filmed in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

borough of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. It was released to mixed reviews.

Plot

Zee, a middle-aged musician who was abandoned by her husband, goes to a cafe in Manhattan where she orders the entire dessert section while crying. Eli, a middle-aged divorced social worker, notices and comes over to start a conversation to cheer her up. The two of them later start a relationship, but that relationship has problems that include jealousy, mistrust, and the fear of marriage. Things improve and they became a happy couple, despite peculiarities such as Eli using a meter to measure his heart rate during sex and hanging upside down in the closet. The main supporting character is Larry, who tries to seduce Zee.

Cast

Karen Black Karen Blanche Black (née Ziegler; July 1, 1939 – August 8, 2013) was an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence for her work in various studio and independent films in the 1970s, frequently portrayi ...

as Zee * Michael Emil as Eli

Production

''Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?'' was filmed in the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

of Manhattan, at locations within a 10-block radius of the American Museum of Natural History. Some of the places in the area do not exist anymore. The filmmakers relied on the regular pedestrian traffic to background the scenes, rather than hiring extras.

, who stars as Zee, composed the music for the film. Cameos include

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

as a magician and

Larry David Lawrence Gene David (born July 2, 1947) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and television producer. He and Jerry Seinfeld created the television sitcom ''Seinfeld'', on which David was head writer and executive producer for the first seve ...

as Eli's friend. The title of the movie comes from the lyric in the folk song " Billy Boy".

Release

The film was originally released at the

in the

section. It later opened at only one New York theatre, the 68th Street Playhouse. It was released on VHS by itself and was released on DVD as a part of Henry Jaglom Collection vol. 2: The Comedies, along with ''

Sitting Ducks ''Sitting Ducks'' is a lithograph created by the poster artist Michael Bedard in 1977. It depicts a literal interpretation of the idiom "sitting duck". Three ducks are relaxing in the sun on white chairs by the poolside, one looks up and no ...

'' and '' New Years Day''. The film was presented in widescreen and the only special features for the film were trailers.

Reception

Critical reaction was mixed. Film critic David Thomson wrote:

' ''Cherry Pie'' is an actors' film in that it grows out of their personalities. It is as loose and unexpected as life, but as shaped and witty as a great short story. In truth, a new kind of film, about love, talk, happiness and failure, about acting and speaking, about New York and Karen Black, and about the way in which a germ of a situation and good players can build an absorbing, vital picture ... 'Cherry Pie' is a unique, memorable and daring film and could be the surprise hit of the year. It shows us that there is still a chance for confident, inspired charm in movies.

A '' Sun-Sentinel'' reviewer called the film "endearing". A review in the book ''TLA Film, Video, and DVD Guide 2002-2003'' said: "Pure emotion meets pure logic and the result is an oddly charming couple". On the other hand, ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

'' called the plot "aimless" and incoherent. A

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

review said: "Decent performances are not enough to save this movie, in which some scenes stretch on much longer than they should, making the genuinely funny moments few and far between". The film received two and a half stars in the book ''Off-Hollywood Movies''. It is considered one of Jaglom's more successful films.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Can She Bake A Cherry Pie 1983 films 1983 comedy films 1980s English-language films American comedy films Films directed by Henry Jaglom Films shot in New York City 1980s American films