The Prisoner of Second Avenue

Forty-eight-year-old Manhattanite Mel Edison just lost his job. Soon he'll lose his wardrobe, temper, self-respect and maybe his mind. In urban life's grueling guerrilla war, Mel just became The Prisoner of Second Avenue. Adapting his 1971 stage hit, Neil Simon develops Mel's anxiety-ridden plight with razor-edged empathy -- and deliciously clever gags. Academy Award winners* Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft are in top form as Mel and his loving wife Edna, skillfully melding zany farce with the bittersweet agony of middle-class people whose wall-to-wall carpeting has suddenly been yanked out from under them. Keep a sharp eye out for alleged pickpocket Sylvester Stallone and cabbie F. Murray Abraham in early career roles.

• comedy
• drama