Checking Out

Actor-turned-writer Allen Swift's play comes to the screen with staginess intact, and despite attractive cinematography and some nice New York City location footage, the material's provenance is never far from the surface. After a long, colorful career that stretches back to the heyday of Yiddish theater on New York City's Lower East Side, 90-year-old retired Broadway star Morris Applebaum (Peter Falk) has reached a momentous decision: It's time to give up the ghost. Morris has lived a long, fruitful life filled with rave reviews, adoring fans and wild evenings spent in the company of Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock; one unforgettable party ended with a drunken Mor...