Synopsis
Max Baron is a Jewish advertising executive in his 20s who's still getting over the death of his wife. Nora Baker is a 40-something diner waitress who enjoys the wilder side of life. Mismatched or not, their attraction is instant and smoldering. With time, however, their class and age differences become an obstacle in their relationship, especially since Max can't keep Nora a secret from his Jewish friends and upper-crust associates forever.
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Cast
- Susan SarandonNora Baker
- James SpaderMax Baron
- Kathy BatesRosemary
- Jason AlexanderNeil
- Eileen BrennanJudy
- Steven HillSol Horowitz
- Renée TaylorEdith Baron
- Jonathan PennerMarv Miller
- Rachel ChagallRachel (as Rachel Levin)
- Corey ParkerLarry Klugman
Recommendations
- 90
Los Angeles Times
Searingly well-acted. - 90
Variety
Outstanding performances by Susan Sarandon and James Spader, working from a relentlessly witty script, make White Palace one of the best films of its kind since The Graduate (1967). - 90
Time Out
Glenn Savan's novel offered a stronger exploration of Reaganism and consumerism, but overall he's served well by this intelligent, involving adaptation. There's an unmistakable charge between the two leads, and an acute sense of their mutual confusion. Acting honours go to Sarandon, who brings off a complex depiction of vulgarity, defiance and vulnerability. - 88
Chicago Sun-Times
There's a lot that's good in White Palace, involving the heart as well as the mind. - 80
Empire
Beautifully observed stuff, classy performances, and an occasionally exquisitely funny movie. - 70
The New York Times
No more convincing on screen than it was on the page. But it is greatly helped by the presence of Mr. Spader, who was apparently born to play life-denying, icy-veined young heroes, and especially Ms. Sarandon, who has made a career out of coaxing such characters out of their buttoned-down ways. - 70
Chicago Reader
Neither character is especially well defined, particularly if one discounts the strident overdefinition of their respective milieus, but as an old-fashioned Hollywood romance in which anything can happen, this is reasonably watchable, and at times mildly funny. - 67
Entertainment Weekly
Spader and Sarandon make White Palace worth seeing, but too often they’re fighting the movie’s smugness.
