Film

Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York

A 1975 comedy about a shy, intellectual woman navigating New York City's dating scene and social pressures. Jeannie Berlin carries this modest, character-driven film with warmth and awkwardness. It's observational rather than laugh-out-loud funny—more interested in the specific loneliness of trying to belong than in broad gags. For anyone who finds themselves in Sheila's shoes: too clever for small talk, too anxious for confidence.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like sharp, neurotic comedies about a young woman fumbling through dating and self-consciousness, where the jokes come from character rather than plot machinery.

Skip it if you want brisk, polished romantic comedy; this one wanders, leans on its heroine's gloom, and its 1970s rhythms feel loose and talky by today's standards.

What it asks of you: A little under two hours at an unhurried pace, with long stretches of quiet self-scrutiny between the party scenes and the lovelorn drifting; it wants patience more than laughs-per-minute.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Annie Hall1977

Released just a year later, this is the film that perfected what Sheila Levine was feeling toward. Neurotic, New York-set, romantic comedy with genuine emotional weight and Allen's best writing. A cultural landmark that actually holds up.

But Woody Allen's whimsy can feel dated or precious now. If you find his persona exhausting, this won't change your mind.

Annie Hall poster

The Goodbye Girl1977

Another mid-70s comedy about lonely people making connections in the city. Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason have palpable chemistry, and it balances humor with real tenderness. A small film that earned its Best Actor Oscar.

But It's dated in its gender politics and occasionally saccharine. The sentiment can curdle if you're not in the mood.

The Goodbye Girl poster

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore1974

Ellen Burstyn as a widow reinventing herself in Phoenix and California. Scorsese directs with surprising gentleness; it's about self-discovery and agency with genuine warmth. Funny in small moments, true in bigger ones.

But It's a character study that moves slowly. The late '70s gender-role material may feel heavy-handed depending on your tolerance.

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

An Unmarried Woman1978

Both films center on women in New York learning to be themselves outside of romantic validation. Sheila's anxiety meets her counterpart's hard-won self-knowledge, same city, different answers.

Jill Clayburgh as a suddenly single woman learning to live alone in New York. Not a comedy, but it's asking the same question Sheila is: Who am I when I'm not performing for someone else? Tender and mature without being sentimental.

But It's a grown-up drama about marriage and independence. If you're looking for laughs, this is all mood and introspection.

An Unmarried Woman poster
More like this (8)

Looking for Mr. Goodbar1977

Diane Keaton plays a schoolteacher leading a secret nightlife in New York. Dark, complicated, sexy, and morally unsettling in ways the earnest Sheila Levine isn't. Shows the other side of the same city.

But It's genuinely bleak and sexually explicit for its era. The ending is devastating in a way this film isn't aiming for.

Looking for Mr. Goodbar poster

Klute1971

Jane Fonda as a New York call girl; Donald Sutherland as an obsessive detective. Paranoid, atmospheric '70s thriller with real intelligence and a woman character who resists easy judgment. Fonda's best performance.

But It's a noir-tinged thriller, not a comedy. If you want lightness, this trades it for dread.

Klute poster

Girlfriends1978

Claudia Weill's understated gem about two women navigating art, ambition, and friendship in New York. Shot on a budget, but full of observation and specificity. Influenced by the French New Wave; quiet and smart.

But Almost nothing happens. It's all mood and conversation. If you need plot momentum, you'll feel adrift.

Girlfriends poster

Starting Over1979

Burt Reynolds and Jill Clayburgh as newly single people learning to date again. Warmer and funnier than you'd expect from a Ryan O'Neal comedy. Genuinely engaging, with good-faith attempts at understanding both sides.

But It leans harder into broad comedy than Sheila Levine. The tone is lighter and less introspective.

Starting Over poster

Coming Home1978

Jon Voight and Jane Fonda in a film about desire, duty, and politics during Vietnam. Serious and sensual, with real stakes. Voight's performance is remarkable—vulnerable in ways male leads rarely were then.

But It's a political and sexual drama, not a comedy. Heavy subject matter dominates everything else.

Coming Home poster

Bloodbrothers1978

Paul Sorvino, Robert De Niro, and Richard Gere as working-class men in New York struggling with family and identity. Character-driven, surprisingly intimate. A film about masculine vulnerability that doesn't know how to say it.

But It's darkly depressing and feels aimless at times. The lack of resolution may frustrate you.

Bloodbrothers poster

David and Lisa1962

Both are small films about shy, intelligent people learning to be close to someone. Sheila's urban loneliness has its mirror in Lisa's institutional isolation. Different settings; the same ache of not fitting.

A gentler-than-you'd-expect film about two psychologically wounded teenagers in an institution finding connection. Shot in black and white, understated and genuine. It treats introversion and social anxiety with actual dignity, not as quirks.

But It's a 1960s mental health drama—feels dated in medical and social attitudes. Some plot points move toward melodrama.

David and Lisa poster

Amélie2001

Both celebrate the interior life of an introverted woman and suggest that being awkward doesn't mean being unlovable. Where Sheila Levine is rueful, Amélie is joyful—different temperament, same quiet courage.

A French film about an shy, anxious woman in Paris finding her way through small acts of kindness and quiet observation. Visually gorgeous, tonally unique, genuinely funny without being mean. It's a love song to awkwardness.

But It's whimsical in a calculated way that can feel cloying. Some find the aesthetics try too hard. Subtitled, if that matters to you.

Amélie poster

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