‘Went to Coney Island” Is a Touching Tale of Friends

“Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God . . . Be Back by Five” re-teams director/co-writer Richard Schenkman and actor/co-writer Jon Cryer, who first joined forces on the romantic comedy “The Pompatus of Love.” This time they’re in a more serious mood, which is not to say this deeply felt, engaging little film is without humor, although it confronts a great deal of pain and loss.

Cryer’s Daniel and Rick Stear’s Stan are lifelong friends in a working-class New York neighborhood. Steadfast Daniel has a modest job as a jeweler, whereas Stan is experiencing the unraveling of his life from gambling and drink. Yet they remain friends, although Dan is not yet aware of how dire Stan’s predicament has become.

They take off to explore Coney Island in search of their long-missing childhood friend Richie, who is rumored to have been spotted at the once-venerable, now increasingly derelict, seaside amusement area.

Stan and Dan locate Richie (Rafael Baez) living under the boardwalk. But the story is really just beginning, and as the film moves back and forth between past and present, Schenkman and Cryer show how the high spirits of childhood, so seemingly full of promise, can so swiftly give way to mediocre adult lives.

The film has a strong, limiting sentimental streak and some loose ends, but clearly Schenkman and Cryer have come up with a film that is finally quite affecting and glows with the performances of Stear and Baez as well as Cryer. (Ione Skye is seen all too briefly as Stan’s longtime girlfriend.)

Evocative and poignant, Coney Island is a powerful key setting, and the filmmakers make the most of it without letting it overwhelm the story--Adam Beckman is the film’s skilled cinematographer. You find “Went to Coney Island” sticking with you long after it’s over.

* MPAA rating: R, for language. Times guidelines: language, adult themes and situations.

‘Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God . . . Be Back by Five’

Jon Cryer: Daniel

Rick Stear: Stan

Rafael Baez: Richie

Ione Skye: Gabby

A Phaedra release. Director Richard Schenkman. Writers-producers Jon Cryer and Schenkman. Cinematographer Adam Beckman. Editor Richard LaBrie. Music Midge Ure. Costumes Deidra Elizabeth Govan. Production designer Bill Stabile. Art director Philomena Marano. Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes.

Exclusively at the Westside Pavilion Cinemas, 10800 W. Pico Blvd., West Los Angeles, (310) 475-0202, and the University, Campus Drive opposite UCI, Irvine, (949) 854-8811.