Save your money for something good and enjoyable

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I think the best adjective for Hester Street is beautiful. The way immigrant life, with all of its complexities and nuances, is depicted is very poignant. It is not so long ago that many of our ancestors displayed bravery by leaving for a faraway land that they knew little of. Their struggle to escape persecution or poverty and to assimilate into a foreign culture is part of the American experience. I love the way this film captures the duality of life in the Jewish section of New York. Despite the fact that only Jews live in this area, we see both the Americanized lifestyle and the orthodox lifestyle, existing side by side and evolving daily.Carol Kane is wonderful in the part of Gitl, the wife who must adapt to a new world and put up with a husband who has abandoned all principles in his adoption of American ways.Hester Street feels like a "small" film. Much of the action takes place in the cramped apartment of Gitl and her family (and the boarder). This is Gitl's new world, a reality that she might be content with, if her husband were loving. The street scenes remind us that Gitl's apartment is just a small part of a bustling neighborhood situated in a huge city in a corner of the new world.

I caught this on TCM one night. I thought it was an old movie. I was convinced by the sets and costumes, that this was a least filmed in the 30's, but supposed be taking place at the turn of the century. I am not an expert, but I love history-of-fashion books, and I was convinced by the hairstyles and fashions that this was made by people who clearly remembered this time. Only at the end, when the credits rolled, did I realize it was made 100 years after the story supposedly took place.Other reviews have elaborated on the basic plot, so I will skip that. I saw it as a drama: comparing those who embrace assimilation into America (Jake and his friends) and those who cling to the "old ways" because it is familiar and comfortable. The story takes place in the Jewish part of town, so there are both kinds of Jews in the area. Jake dresses like an American, and proclaims that he is a Yankee now. He even renames his son "Joey", because the son's real name is too old-fashioned and old-country. His wife, Gitl, is very uncomfortable with American ways: they way they dress, and particularly, to be seen – a married woman - in public with her own hair, like a gentile. Her husband is embarrassed by Gitl puts pressure on her to be like American women: to dress up, look pretty and wear hear hair out (like his mistress), but when she tries to be an American woman, it really isn't what he wants. He wants the mistress.In the mean time, Jake and Gitl have a boarder: Mr. Bernstein. He also clings to the old ways, hiding from everyone in his religious books. Jake teaches Joey baseball, Mr. Bernstein teaches Joey Hebrew. Mr. Bernstein is shy, just like Gitl, and you can see, they would make a much better couple. When Jake and Gitl are officially separated, Gitl tricks Mr. Bernstein into proposing. That was my favorite part.At the very, very end, when Gitl and Mr. Bernstein are in the market together, with her son, someone asks his name. She says, "Joey". She has taken a small step towards assimilation, a small step towards leaving the old country and becoming an American.I wondered how the director found such a sweet, quiet, shy, naïve, innocent, timid, reserved young girl to actually be on camera and play Gitl. I was convinced that her real personality was exactly what I saw on the screen. When I saw she was played by Carol Kane, I could not believe this was the same loud, zany woman who was the Ghost of Christmas Present on Scrooged.

Around 1975 I saw this movie with my mother and aunt, born in 1902 and 1903 respectively. They watched it as if it were a replay of a life that they had known, having come to this country just about the time of the characters on the screen.My mother soon descended into the long goodbye of Alzheimers disease. So this is a memory I especially value. My Aunt, kenehora, is still with us. They discussed it mater of factly, not so much as a work of art, but a documentary. I can think of no greater compliment to all who were involved in creating this very special film.Al Rodbell

This is one of those "small" movies that hardly anyone has apparently seen, but deserves a much wider viewing. Carol Kane, in one of her first roles, is perfect as the Jewish immigrant trying to make sense of life in the New World. Trying to hold on to her traditions, she must decide what accommodations to make to modern life in turn-of-the-century New York City. Her husband's philandering is handled with warmth and humor, and there are no villains in this movie.. The scene between Carol Kane and the lawyer negotiating a divorce settlement is, I think, one of the funniest in all cinema, and the ending is bound to make you feel good about the possibility of justice in the world.