The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974)

Touches You

The greatest movie ever made..!

hyped garbage

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Duddy Kravitz (Richard Dreyfuss) is a hustling young Jewish man living in a working class Montreal neighborhood. His older brother medical student Lenny is the favorite of his father Max (Jack Warden) and his rich uncle Benjy. His grandfather's mantra is "a man without land is nobody" and sees every man in the family including himself as failures. He works a summer job at a Jewish resort hotel. He falls for the French Canadian maid named Yvette (Micheline Lanctôt). The other waiters from McGill University led by Irwin look down on the lower class Duddy. While on a picnic with Yvette, he decides to buy the land around a beautiful lake and build his own hotel resort. She would need to front the deal since the owners would probably be unwilling to sell to a Jew.Duddy is a money grubbing Jew character and he's somewhat annoying. His obsession is also understandable and fascinating. It's wrapped up with daddy issues. I don't root for his quest but it is still compelling. This is a nice slice of an era as well as an interesting coming of age story. The production is adequate and Dreyfuss delivers a good performance.

Hot off "American Graffiti", Richard Dreyfuss starred in another movie set in the era of Brylcream and poodle skirts: "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz". This one chronicles the rise of a working-class Jewish lad in 1948 Montreal. Duddy is determined to make it, even if he has to do some undesirable things to get there. A particularly eye-opening scene is when Duddy is working in the resort and a man offers him a dollar bill, tears it in half, and promises Duddy the rest if he provides good service.So, maybe this isn't the greatest movie ever made, but it's an interesting look at one man's dreams, and at post-WWII Canada. Very good performances by everyone. Also starring Micheline Lanctot, Jack Warden, Randy Quaid, Joseph Wiseman (that's right, Dr. No) and Denholm Elliott. If I may say so, Yvette is really hot.And to think that director Ted Kotcheff later directed the first "Rambo" movie.

Critically-lauded, but gloppy-looking, abrasive coming-of-age story about a Jewish kid in 1940's Montreal who hustles his way out of the ghetto. Richard Dreyfuss snuck this in between "American Graffitti" and "Jaws", but his performance is one-note and not very appealing (the film did poor business, and when it premiered on HBO, after Dreyfuss attained success, no one knew where the picture came from). Supporting cast (Jack Warden, Randy Quaid, and Denholm Elliott among them) fair a bit better, but director Ted Kotcheff seems more interested in creating a realistically squalid atmosphere rather than concentrating on building reasonably enjoyable characters. Screenplay by Mordecai Richler, from his own novel, sets up the pieces but provides very little pay-off. *1/2 from ****

Am I a jerk or what? I loved Duddy Kravitz. Even though he's a back stabbing, robbing crook of a shmuck, who has every right to be despised, I wound up rooting for him anyways. Do I feel guilty? Absolutely not! And here's why. Richard Dreyfuss.Based on Mordechai Richler's novel about growing up in 1950's Montreal. He's got the world coming to him. Well, at least he thinks he does. Quick to take advantage of every opportunity thrown at him, sometimes he gets way over his head, but that doesn't let him down for long, for soon he's after his next big score. Whether it be independent movies. Pinball, or a giant lakeside property.My god, Richard Dreyfuss is the heart and soul of this movie. I am clearly lacking any idea of who else could have pulled this performance off so flawlessly. The supporting cast, including Micheline Lanctôt, Jack Warden, and, in a stunning performance, Randy Quaid, are all great. But Dreyfuss just steamrolls over them, literally and figuratively.