Long before I discovered the lights of Broadway, I longed to live in the city by the bay, a Pacific coast metropolis that even today puts La La land to shame. Living in L.A. for 25 years made me cynical to swimming pools, movie stars, the lack of a subway. But when I go to San Francisco, I am tempted still to wear a flower in my hair. Even though I never moved there and haven't been there in years, I have enough of my tales, but am still intrigued by Arstid Maupin's.
I had known of Olympia Dukakis long before she won the Oscar for "Moonstruck". Oh so deliciously theatrical, she has shined in practically every kind of role, and even if she had never told Cher that her life was going down the toilet or offered Sally Field the opportunity to take a wack at Ouiser, I would have adored her, simply for this, an earth mother who has indeed fooled mother nature as the pot growing landlady from 28 Barbary Lane.
Cleveland wasn't rocking anymore for naive Laura Linney who discovered real life as she learns to grow up and face adult issues, especially with the odd characters she encounters in her journey. Chloe Webb's Mona is delightfully bohemian as her neighbor, helping out her love starved gay pal " Mouse", a sweet but goal-less pretty boy who will face all sorts of romantic ordeals in the city where it seemed that only the bridge was straight.
Of course, there are straight men in Dan Francisco, and they are represented by Donald Moffat's ailing businessman whose unhappy marriage to alcoholic socialite Nina Foch leads him to a "friendship" with Dukakis. His son-in-law Thomas Gibson seduces Linney, leaving his uptight wife Barbara Garrick to look for her own variation of affection.
Definitely made in the soap opera mode, this intertwines all of the characters while utilizing the signs of the times to explore the culture of a swinging era that lead to certain upheavals yet to come. Easy to follow even with the plethora of characters, this has both a sense of mystery and clues of things yet to come in future installments. Still incomplete, I would adore more tales down the road, but only as long as Dukakis is involved.
I had known of Olympia Dukakis long before she won the Oscar for "Moonstruck". Oh so deliciously theatrical, she has shined in practically every kind of role, and even if she had never told Cher that her life was going down the toilet or offered Sally Field the opportunity to take a wack at Ouiser, I would have adored her, simply for this, an earth mother who has indeed fooled mother nature as the pot growing landlady from 28 Barbary Lane.
Cleveland wasn't rocking anymore for naive Laura Linney who discovered real life as she learns to grow up and face adult issues, especially with the odd characters she encounters in her journey. Chloe Webb's Mona is delightfully bohemian as her neighbor, helping out her love starved gay pal " Mouse", a sweet but goal-less pretty boy who will face all sorts of romantic ordeals in the city where it seemed that only the bridge was straight.
Of course, there are straight men in Dan Francisco, and they are represented by Donald Moffat's ailing businessman whose unhappy marriage to alcoholic socialite Nina Foch leads him to a "friendship" with Dukakis. His son-in-law Thomas Gibson seduces Linney, leaving his uptight wife Barbara Garrick to look for her own variation of affection.
Definitely made in the soap opera mode, this intertwines all of the characters while utilizing the signs of the times to explore the culture of a swinging era that lead to certain upheavals yet to come. Easy to follow even with the plethora of characters, this has both a sense of mystery and clues of things yet to come in future installments. Still incomplete, I would adore more tales down the road, but only as long as Dukakis is involved.