Slums of Beverly Hills – Review

Ooooof. The comedy has a stinging bite in Slums of Beverly Hills. In 1976, the young teenage Vivian Abromowitz (Lyonne) appears to have developed her “womanhood” overnight, and her divorced father Murray (Arkin) is at the store forcing a saleswoman to fit her with a bra. It is as awkward as you expect, and this is only the beginning…

Murray scrambles his family to move, having hit rough times and a bad losing streak at the races, but wanting to keep his kids in the esteemed Beverly Hills school district. He packs up Vivian, and her two brothers Ben (Krumholtz) and Rickey into their car, and they hit the road, destined for a new, and cheap, apartment. Meanwhile, his brother Mickey’s (Reiner) daughter Rita (Tomei) is off hitchhiking with semi-truck drivers, after her exodus from a rehab clinic.

As the family settles into their new abode, Vivian meets a neighbor Eliot Arenson (Corrigan) who she is semi-interested in. Murray tracks down Rita, and she begins to live with the family also. Incoming family drama hits for the older generation, and sexual awakenings occur for the younger generation.

The cast is very strong, as is the writing. If you cannot handle awkward situations or second-hand embarrassment, this may drive you into an agitated place instead of having a fun time, but overall, this film is hard not to laugh along with and the quality is there. It is short enough overall so it zips by, and contains plenty of ridiculous situations, many of which feel all too real. The family dynamic is well represented and brings all sorts of shenanigans.